FEB   4  1916 


BV    3790     .C43    1911 

Chafer,  Lewis  Sperry,  1871- 

1952. 
True  evangelism 


ll'PO 


K  ^'1 


TRUE  EVANGELISM 


BY 

LEWIS  SPERRY  CHAFER 

NORTHRELD.  MASS. 
Author  of  "Satan" 


A 


GOSPEL  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 

692  EIGHTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK 


CONTENTS 

VASE 

Introduction 3 

Foreword 5 

False  Forces  in  Evangelism  .  ,  .13 
Salvation,  the  Objective  in  Evangelism  .  39 
The  Convicting  of  the  Spirit  ,  .  .71 
The  Prayer  of  Intercession  ,  ,  •  99 
Suffering  with  Christ  .....  117 
The  Cleansing  of  the  Priests    ...  133 


INTRODUCTION 

If  there  is  suflficient  warrant  for  this  book,  in  addition 
to  the  many  already  written  on  Evangehsm,  it  Hes 
in  the  effort  which  is  here  made  to  place  an  emphasis 
upon  the  fact  that  evangelism  is  the  service  of  the 
whole  company  of  believers,  and  that  when  they 
intelligently  co-operate  with  the  Spirit  in  this 
work,  there  is  less  demand  for  the  modem  evangelist 
or  his  methods. 

What  is  here  written  is  the  result  of  evangelistic 
experience  and  study  covering  a  period  of  almost  a 
score  of  years.  During  this  time  the  trend  of  the 
writer's  conviciion  has  been  away  from  emotional 
and  superficial  methods,  which  are  too  often  thought 
to  be  the  only  possible  expression  of  earnestness  and 
enthusiasm  in  soul-winning,  and  toward  an  entire 
dependence  upon  the  Spirit  to  do  every  phase  of 
the  work  that  has  been  assigned  to  Him  in  the 
purpose  of  God. 

It  is  not  a  pleasant  task  to  offer  criticism  of  any 
faithful  effort  in  evangelism  ;    for  a  sincere  attemp 


4  INTRODUCTION 

to  reach  the  lost,  though  misguided,  is  preferable 
to  the  spiritual  death  and  formalism  which  knows  no 
burden  or  sacrifice  for  the  unsaved.  What  may  seem 
as  criticism  has  been  introduced  only  where  it  is 
needed  to  emphasize  true  evangelism  by  way  of 
contrast.  It  is  intended  that  this  work  shall  be 
constructive  rather  than  critical.  If  some  of  the 
difficulties  in  soul-winning,  with  the  Divine  provi- 
sions to  overcome  them,  are  herein  revealed,  and 
any  new  light  shall  fall  on  the  exact  responsibility 
of  the  individual  Christian  in  co-operation  with 
Christ,  and  that  new  light  be  acted  upon,  the  going 
forth  of  this  testimony  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  for 
His  glory  will  not  have  been  in  vain. 

THE    AUTHOR. 

NORTHFIELD,   MaSS. 

March  ist,  1911. 


FOREWORD 

By    MR.    HENRY    VARLEY 

Your  welcome  letter  from  Northfield  found  me 
in  much  physical  pain  and  weakness.  The  more 
welcome  may  I  say  on  this  account,  for  should  my 
brotherly  words  in  reference  to  your  timely  volume 
prove  to  be  my  latest,  I  would  be  grateful  for  their 
occasion.  The  proof  pages  read  at  the  early  stages 
of  convalescence  have  been  greatly  valued  and 
enjoyed.  The  standard  is,  as  it  should  be,  high, 
true,  clear,  and  unmistakably  loyal  to  the  revelation 
of  God. 

Your  volume,  in  my  judgment,  is  of  great  value. 
I  praise  God  for  your  writing.  The  ministry  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  luminous  pages 
of  "  True  Evangelism."  I  heartily  endorse  and 
rejoice  in  the  prominence  to  the  unchanging  cha- 
racter of  human  salvation  effected  at  the  instance 
and  by  the  power  of  the  living  God  in  Christ  Jesus 
the  Lord. 

The  distinct  revelation  e:iven  from  the  W^ord  of 


6  FOR  t  WORD 

God  is  admirable.  You  have  not  failed  to  "  hold 
fast  the  form  of  sound  words,"  which  the  Spirit  of 
God  maintains  in  the  New  Testament.  These  can 
never  be  changed,  modified,  or  made  to  teach  the 
crude  fallacies  of  "  modem  criticism,"  or  "  New 
Theology." 

Needless  to  say,  you  have  revealed  the  cause  of 
much  failure  in  past  evangelistic  effort.  Despite 
these  failures,  we  will  never  forget  that  it  is  written 
of  the  exalted  Lord  that  "  He  gave  some  apostles, 
some  prophets,  some  evangelists,  some  pastors  and 
teachers  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  to  the  edifying  of  the  Body  of 
Christ  "  (Eph.  iv.  ii,  12).  That  the  god  of  this  age 
will  counterfeit  the  r^al  gifts  is  certain,  the  modem 
sacrificing  priest  and  the  mere  professional  evan- 
gelist yielding  conclusive  proof. 

Many  years  since,  in  conversation  with  our 
glorified  friend,  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  the  question  came 
up,  of  what  our  part  was,  or  could  be,  in  connection 
with  the  salvation  of  men,  seeing  that  the  fact 
and  glory  of  their  saJvation  belonged  entirely  to 
Christ. 

I  remember  expressing  the  following,  "  that  real 
and  personal  fellowship  in  the  compassionate  love 
and  sufferings  of  Christ  in  regard  to  the  salvation 


FOREWORD  7 

of  others  might  yield  partnership  in  that  glory  which 
by  right  alone  beloogs  to  Our  Lord." 

With  the  structure  and  furtherance  of  your  theme, 
as  indicated  by  the  titles  of  the  successive  chapters, 
I  am  in  hearty  agreement.  Your  searching  words  in 
relation  to  certain  phases  of  modem  evangelism, 
both  as  to  men  and  methods,  should  cause  deep 
searching  of  heart  ;  nor  must  we  fail  to  point  out 
what  poor  "  soul- winners  "  at  best  we  all  are.  Our 
cry  must  be  :  "  O  Lord,  be  with  us,  and  help  us, 
for  without  Thee  we  can  do  nothing." 


FALSE 
FORGES  IN  EVANGELISM 


TRUE    EVANGELISM 

CHAPTER    1 

FALSE   FORCES   IN   EVANGELISM 

T^HE  Lord  Jesus  described  His  mission  by  the 
words  :  "  For  the  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  was  lost  "  (Luke  xix.  lo), 
and  this  concise  statement  included  both  His 
finished  work  UDon  the  Cross  (John  xix.  30),  and  His 
unfinished  won  in  the  worid  (Acts  i.  i).  While 
the  work  of  saving  the  lost  must  ever  be  a  Divine 
undertakinr^  r.,';,.omplished  only  through  His  finished 
work  on  .he  Cross,  there  are  aspects  of  the  work  of 
'•^ eking  them  which  were  committed  to  His  followers, 
jtnd  which  are  a  part  of  His  unfinished  work  in  the 
world. 

The  work  of  seeking  the  lost,  Uke  the  work  of 
saving  them,  is  in  reahty  a  Divine  undertaking. 
It  is  distinctly  stated  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  come 
to  seek.  Thus  He  is  again  pictured  in  the  Parable 
of  the  Lost  Sheep :  "  When  He  hath  found  it.  He 

13 


14  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

layeth  it  upon  His  shoulders,  rejoicing."  It  is  the 
"  goodness  of  God  that  leadeth  to  repentance,"  and 
the  whole  undertaking  of  finding  lost  men  is  but 
"  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  "  ;  for  no  human 
effort  or  service  can  be  effectual  apart  from  the 
power  of  God.  Seeking  the  lost  is  more  than  a  mere 
attempt  to  locate  unsaved  men,  for  they  are  present 
on  every  hand.  The  term  "  seeking  the  lost,"  there- 
fore, suggests  a  Divine  preparation  of  the  unsaved 
that  will  bring  them  into  adjustment  with  the 
necessary  conditions  of  salvation. 

It  will  be  found,  in  the  course  of  these  studies,  that 
there  are  successive  aspects  of  the  Divine  seeking  of 
the  lost  to  be  traced  in  Scripture,  and  every  phase  of 
this  work,  it  will  be  seen,  is  undertaken  and  wholly 
accomplished  by  God  the  Holy  Spirit.  To  recog- 
nize these  Divine  movements  and  to  be  willing  hum- 
bly to  co-operate  with  them  is  the  true  basis  of  all 
soul-saving  work. 

While  it  has  pleased  God  to  appoint  to  His  saints 
(not  as  a  corporate  body,  but  as  individuals)  a 
portion  in  the  work  of  seeking,  the  human  part  in 
that  work  is  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the 
Divine.  Yet  man,  who  by  nature  comprehends  and 
measures  only  visible  things,  is  ever  prone  to  dis- 
regard the  invisible  working  of  the  Spirit,  and  tr 


FALSE   FORCES   IN   EVANGELISM     15 

place  an  undue  emphasis  upon  the  comparatively 
small  human  share  in  those  undertakings. 

It  is  under  these  distorted  estimates  of  the  factors 
in  the  work  of  salvation  that  those  things  which  may 
be  called  "  false  forces  "  in  evangelism  are  substi- 
tuted for  the  true.  What  are  here  termed  "  false 
forces  "  are,  in  some  measure,  God-appointed  means 
in  true  evangelism.  They  become  false  forces  only 
when  they  receive  too  much  emphasis,  or  are  strained 
to  perform  a  function  beyond  that  assigned  to  them 
in  the  purpose  of  God.  Thus  it  may  be  seen  that 
failure  in  evangelism  is  not  always  due  to  an  entire 
neglect  of  some  part,  or  parts,  of  the  Divine  appoint- 
ments for  the  work  ;  but  may  be  due  to  an  un- 
balanced estimate  of  the  relative  values  of  these 
forces. 

This  discussion  of  false  forces  in  evangelism  will 
be  limited  to  three  general  aspects — i.e.,  Men, 
Methods,  and  Messages. 

Men. — By  this  term  reference  is  here  made  to  a 
class  of  men  in  the  ministry  called  "  evangelists," 
and  on  whom  the  church  has  so  largely  come  to 
depend  for  her  activity  in  evangelism. 

The  word  "  evangeHst  "  is  used  but  three  times 
in  Scripture,  and  but  one  of  these  passages  is  to  any 


i6  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

extent  descriptive.  It  is  as  follows  :  "  Wherefore 
He  saith,  when  He  ascended  on  high,  He  led  captivity 
captive,  and  gave  gifts  unto  men."  ..."  And 
He  gave  some  to  be  apostles  ;  and  some,  prophets ; 
and  some,  evangelists ;  and  some,  pastors  and 
teachers ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  mito  the 
work  of  ministering,  unto  the  building  up  of  the  body 
of  Christ :  till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith, 
and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  full 
grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fulness  of  Christ  "  (Eph.  iv.  8,  11-13,  R.V.). 

Here  the  evangelist  is  seen,  with  the  apostle, 
prophet,  pastor  and  teacher,  to  be  a  gift  of  the 
ascended  Christ  to  His  church  in  the  world.  This 
ministry  gift  of  the  apostle,  prophet,  evangelist,  and 
pastor  and  teacher  should  be  distinguished  from  the 
enduement  for  service  bestowed  upon  the  individual 
believer  (i  Cor.  xii.  4-31 ;  Rom.  xii.  3-8).  In  the  one 
case  the  servant  of  God  who  has  been  endued  for 
ministry  is  Christ's  gift  to  the  whole  church  ;  while 
in  the  other  case  a  special  enablement  for  service  is 
given  to  the  individual  believer  by  the  sovereign 
Spirit  "  as  He  will."  In  this  same  connection  still 
another  distinction  should  be  made,  in  that  the 
believer,  in  addition  to  the  exercise  of  gifts,  is 
appointed  to  the  ministry  of  the  priestly  office  ;  and 


FALSE    FORCES    IN   EVANGELISM     17 

since  evangelism  will  be  found  to  depend  so  largely 
upon  the  exercise  of  the  believer's  gifts  and  his 
ministry  in  the  priestly  office,  a  violation  has  been 
done  to  the  plan  of  God,  as  revealed  in  His  Word, 
insomuch  as  the  work  of  evangeUsm  has  been  taken 
from  the  whole  company  of  behevers  and  entrusted 
to  a  few. 

The  evangelist  of  Scripture  is,  without  question, 
the  messenger  to  the  unevangelized,  preparing  the 
way  for  the  pastor  and  teacher  in  his  more  constant 
ministry  in  the  church.  The  evangelist,  therefore, 
finds  his  fullest  Divine  purpose  as  a  pioneer  mis- 
sionary to  the  hitherto  unevangelized. 

The  modem  "  revival,"  the  work  of  the  "  revival- 
ist "  who  comes  under  the  title  of  an  evangelist,  but 
works  as  a  religious  promoter  in  the  organized 
church,  is  unexpected  in  Scripture,  except  as  the 
word  "  revival  "  is  used  to  denote  a  forward  move- 
ment in  the  spiritual  life  of  the  church,  without 
including  the  idea  of  attempting  to  regain  some 
spiritual  position  once  held,  but  now  lost.  The  use 
of  the  word  usually  means,  however,  a  getting  up 
after  having  fallen  down,  or  a  waking  after  sleeping, 
or  a  coming  to  strength  after  a  period  of  weakness ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Scripture  pre-supposes 
a  continual  erect,  wakeful  and  aggressive  position 


i8  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

for  service  on  the  part  of  every  Christian  (Eph.  vi. 
10-17).  Thus,  it  may  be  seen,  a  "  revival "  is 
abnormal  rather  than  normal.  It  may  have  a 
function  when  needed,  but  in  no  way  should  become 
a  habit,  much  less  a  sanctioned  method  of  work. 
Having  regained  vitality,  believers  are  not  war- 
ranted in  habitually  returning  to  an  anaemic  state. 

The  re-adjustment  of  a  powerless  church  into  a 
normal  position  of  fruit-bearing  fellowship  with 
God  is,  without  question,  an  undertaking  that  is 
warranted  in  Scripture.  Such  a  transformation, 
however,  can  be  accomplished  only  through  a 
ministry  of  teaching  and  pastoral  care.  Thus  it 
falls  naturally  within  the  sphere  of  service  com- 
mitted to  the  pastor  and  teacher  whose  ministry 
is  not  necessarily  located  in  one  place  since  he  is  a 
gift  to  the  whole  body  of  believers.  Such  a  ministry 
may  be  undertaken  by  a  pastor  and  teacher  who  is  a 
speciahst  in  such  work,  and  who  may  visit  the  field 
to  temporarily  assist  the  resident  pastor  in  his  work. 
If  this  adjustment  of  the  church  is  accomplished, 
the  pastor  or  special  assistant  may  then  "  do  the 
work  of  an  evangelist."  There  is  an  important 
possible  distinction,  however,  between  being  an 
evangelist  by  calling,  and  doing  the  work  of  an 
evangelist  as  occasion  may  arise  in  the  pastoral  office. 


FALSE    FORCES    IN   EVANGELISM     19 

The  efficiency  of  the  whole  company  of  behevers 
must  depend  upon  their  proper  adjustment  to  God 
in  the  cleansing  and  fitting  of  their  individual  lives. 
Just  here  there  is  a  grave  danger  lest  the  church 
shall  ignore  her  God-appointed  work,  and  the 
necessary  individual  preparation  for  it,  and  attempt 
to  substitute  the  wholesale  machinery  and  appeal 
of  the  modern  evangelist  in  its  place. 

The  fact  that  a  "  revival  "  is  planned  for  is  a 
confession  on  the  part  of  a  church  of  a  condition 
which  would  render  the  normal  movements  of  the 
Spirit  in  salvation  impossible.  The  call  for  the 
evangelist,  under  those  conditions,  also  reveals  the 
fact  that  the  expectation  of  the  church,  to  a  great 
extent,  is  toward  the  man  that  is  invited,  rather  than 
toward  the  Holy  Spirit  and  His  appointed  ministry 
through  the  church  itself.  The  special  help  of  a 
Scriptural  evangelist  might  be  imperative  in  gather- 
ing the  abundant  fruit  produced  by  the  faithful 
evangelizing  efforts  of  a  church.  It  will  be  admitted, 
however,  that  such  conditions  do  not  often  exist  in 
the  churches :  on  the  contrary,  the  sincere 
and  intelligent  evangelist  must,  almost  without 
exception,  first  do  the  work  of  a  pastor  and 
teacher  by  seeking  to  revive  the  church  itself. 

This    unfruitful    condition    of    the    church    has 


20  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

created  a  great  temptation  for  the  evangelist  to  be 
superficial  in  his  aim  and  undertakings.  His  repu- 
tation, and  often  his  remuneration,  are  dependent 
upon  apparent  results ;  for  many  pastors  and 
churches  have  been  trained  to  a  vision  of  quantity 
in  results  rather  than  to  a  due  regard  for  quality. 
If  the  evangelist  understands  the  Divine  programme 
in  soul-winning,  and  proposes  to  go  to  the  bottom 
with  the  churches,  and  do  a  teaching  work  that  he 
may  build  the  necessary  Scriptural  foundation  for 
abiding  fruit,  he  may  often  have  to  do  so  against 
the  opposition  of  pastors  and  churches.  They, 
expecting  a  sudden  and  apparent  transformation, 
are  naturally  unprepared  for  the  extended  period 
of  time  and  the  pastoral  instruction  that  is  required 
to  accomplish  the  necessary  work.  In  undertaking 
a  thorough  foundation  work  in  the  churches,  the 
evangelist  would  thus  be  forsaking  his  own  calling, 
and  assuming  the  work  of  the  pastor  and  teacher  ; 
and  would  be  a  disappointment  to  those  who  had 
called  him  and  on  whom  he  depends,  humanly 
speaking,  for  his  support.  His  temptation  is  to 
secure  the  apparent  results  that  are  expected ;  for 
it  is  not  natural  for  him  to  follow  a  programme  that 
would  drive  him  entirely  from  the  ministry  which 
he  has  chosen. 


FALSE   FORCES    IN   EVANGELISM     21 

The  discussion  of  the  fundamental  error  of  the 
church  in  unduly  magnifying  the  work  of  the  evan- 
gelist, and  neglecting  her  own  God-appointed  minis- 
try in  salvation,  will  be  the  theme  of  succeeding 
chapters. 

Methods. — Likewise  the  undue  emphasis  upon 
methods  in  modem  evangelism  is  almost  universal. 
The  erroneous  impression  exists  that  evangelistic 
effort  should  be  confined  to  stated  times  and  seasons, 
and  that  belief  has  led  to  a  far  more  serious  one, 
namely,  that  God  is  only  occasionally  "  on  the  giving 
hand  ;  "  whereas  the  Scriptural  forces  in  true  evan- 
gelism depend  upon  the  unchanging  promises  of  God, 
the  constant  abiding  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  church,  and  His  continual  working  through  the 
church. 

Frequent  gatherings  may  be  of  unmeasured  value 
in  the  life  of  any  company  of  believers  ;  but  such 
meetings  should  not  become  the  only  time  of  soul- 
winning  expectation.  The  conditions  are  most 
unreasonable  when  the  unbelievers  of  any  locality 
have  come  to  realize  that  to  avoid  the  spasmodic 
solicitude  of  the  church  for  a  period  of  a  few  days 
is  to  be  free  from  such  appeals  for  the  rest  of  the 
year,    or   :2or,    perhaps,    a    term    of   years.     That 


22  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

unreality  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  an  evangelism  that 
depends  upon  times  and  seasons. 

Again,  the  false  or  undue  emphasis  on  methods  is 
disclosed  in  the  evangelist's  demand  for  some  public 
action  in  connection  with  conversion,  such  as 
standing  or  going  forward  in  a  meeting.  Great 
confusion  has  been  wrought  by  the  intrusion  of  such 
public  acts  into  the  conditions  of  salvation  ;  thereby 
making  salvation  to  seem  to  be  by  faith  in  Christ, 
plus  a  meritorious  and  more  or  less  spectacular 
demonstration. 

These  required  public  acts  are  usually  justified 
from  one  or  two  passages  of  Scripture,  which  are  here 
quoted  :  "  Whosoever  therefore  shall  confess  Me 
before  men,  him  will  I  confess  also  before  My  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  "  (Matt.  x.  32),  and,  "  That  if 
thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  shalt  beheve  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath  raised 
Him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For 
with  the  heart  man  believeth  into  righteousness ; 
and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salva- 
tion "  (Rom.  X.  9,  10). 

A  careful  study  of  the  whole  context  of  the  former 
passage  will  reveal  that  the  passage  occurs  in  a  body 
of  Scripture  which  is  primarily  applicable  to  the 
yet  future  Kii'^dom  age,  and  it,  like  all  that  truth, 


FALSE   FORCES   IN   EVANGELISM     23 

bears  only  a  moral  or  secondary  application  to  the 
age  of  the  church.  Confession  cannot,  therefore, 
be  made  a  present  condition  of  salvation  from  this 
particular  passage. 

The  second  passage  quoted  above  (Rom.  x.  9,  10), 
is  perhaps  more  important,  since  it  falls  within  the 
teachings  and  conditions  that  belong  primarily  to 
the  soul  under  grace. 

The  force  of  the  positive  statement  in  verse  9, 
'*  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath 
raised  Him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  is 
explained  in  verse  10  :  "  For  with  the  heart  man 
believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth 
confession  is  made  unto  salvation."  In  the  latter 
verse  the  true  meaning  and  use  of  the  word  "  con- 
fess "  is  suggested.  Of  this  word  in  this  same 
passage  Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson  wrote  :  "  That  word 
means  to  speak  out  of  a  like  nature  to  one  another. 
I  believe  and  receive  the  love  of  God.  In  receiving 
His  love  I  receive  His  life,  in  receiving  His  life  I 
receive  His  nature,  and  His  nature  in  me  naturally 
expresses  itself  according  to  His  will.  That  is  con- 
fession. Dr.  McLaren  has  said  :  '  Men  do  not  light 
a  candle  and  put  it  under  a  bushel,  because  the  candle 
would  either  go  out  or    bum    the    bushel.'     You 


24  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

must  have  vent  for  life,  light  and  love,  or  how  can 
they  abide  ?  And  a  confession  of  Christ  Jesus  as 
Lord  is  the  answer  of  the  new  life  of  God  received. 
In  receiving  love,  you  are  bom  of  God,  and,  being 
bom  of  God,  you  cry,  '  Abba  Father,'  which  is 
but  the  Aramaic  word  for  '  Papa ' — syllables 
which  can  be  pronounced  before  there  are  any 
teeth,  because  they  are  made  with  the  gums  and  lips 
— the  first  word  of  a  new-bom  soul,  bom  of  God, 
knowing  God,  and  out  of  a  like  nature  with  God 
speaking  in  the  language  of  a  child." 

Confession,  then,  does  not  provide  a  reason  for 
salvation,  but  rather  proves  its  reality.  It  is 
clearly  the  believer's  privilege,  and  is  of  no  value 
until  Christ  has  been  received  and.  the  new  life 
begun. 

So  with  the  heart,  or  inner  consciousness,  man 
believes  unto  righteousness,  which  is  the  one 
condition  of  acceptance  before  God  ;  and  with  the 
mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation,  which  is 
but  the  normal  answer  of  the  new-bom  soul  to 
God. 

That  these  passages  do  not  demand  a  public  act 
as  a  condition  of  salvation  is  obvious  for  at  least  two 
other  reasons.  First,  such  an  interpretation  would 
disagree   with   all  other  passages  of  Scripture  on 


FALSE    FORCES    IN    EVANGELISM     25 

salvation,  since  it  would  cause  grace  to  be  no  more 
grace,  inasmuch  as  there  was  saving  merit  in  a 
human  deed  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  demand  con- 
fession in  connection  with  conversion  without  making 
it  seem  to  be  meritorious,  and,  to  that  extent,  a 
frustrating  of  the  whole  doctrine  of  grace.  And 
second,  a  public  confession  cannot  be  a  necessity  in 
salvation,  since  an  innumerable  company  have  found 
fullest  peace  with  God  through  Christ  Jesus,  who 
were  deprived  of  the  supposed  value  of  any  such 
action. 

Because  of  satanic  blindness  to  the  Gospel  of  Grace 
(2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4),  unregenerate  man  cannot  compre- 
hend the  true  basis  of  salvation,  and  is  therefore 
ever  prone  to  do  the  best  he  knows.  This  is  to 
attempt  to  work  out  his  own  standing  before  God 
by  his  own  efforts.  It  is  this  natural  tendency  to 
do  something  of  merit  that  prompts  many  to  respond 
to  the  evangelist's  appeal.  It  was  an  expression  of 
sincerity  that  inquired  of  Jesus  :  "  What  shall  we 
do,  that  we  might  work  the  works  of  God  ?  "  And 
His  answer  then  is  His  answer  now :  "  This  is  the 
work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath 
sent  "  (John  vi.  28,  29). 

It  may  be  conceded  that  genuine  results  are  some- 
times obtained  even  where  misleading  methods  are 


26  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

employed  ;  but  there  is  great  harm  done  as  well. 
Far  too  little  has  been  said  on  this  point.  Some 
of  these  evils  should,  perhaps,  be  mentioned. 

I. — A  False  Issue 

The  leader  who  has  accustomed  himself  to  years 
of  public  service  can  hardly  realize  the  almost 
impossible  task  that  is  placed  before  the  majority 
of  people  when  they  are  asked  to  do  some  conspicuous 
act.  Such  an  undertaking,  to  them,  is  stupendous  ; 
and  while  they  might  be  willing  to  receive  Christ  as 
a  personal  Saviour,  they  often  shrink  from  taking  a 
public  step  because  of  their  natural  timidity.  Thus 
the  real  issue  is  many  times  subordinated  to  another  ; 
and  that  new  issue  is  not  only  unreal,  but  is  entirely 
foreign  to  the  all-important  question.  In  this 
connection  it  is  often  urged  that  the  unsaved  should 
be  sufficiently  in  earnest  to  readily  comply  with  any 
method  or  custom  that  may  be  employed.  But  is  it 
not  evident,  in  addition  to  the  fact  that  such  demands 
are  a  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  grace,  that  they  are 
both  unwarranted  and  unreasonable,  since  God  has 
provided  no  enabling  power  whereby  unregenerate 
people  may  do  commendable  acts  for  Him  ?  A 
public  confession  is  a  far  different  task  to  the  same 
timid  person  after  he  has  received  a   new   Divine 


FALSE   FORCES   IN  'EVANGELISM     27 

Life  ;  for  he  can  then  say  by  faith,  and  in  all  humility  : 
"  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengthen- 
eth  me  "  (Phil.  iv.  13). 

The  one  necessary  step — the  acceptance  of  Christ 
as  Saviour — can  only  be  performed  in  the  secret  of 
the  heart  itself,  by  a  personal  choice  and  action  of 
the  will.  This  is  a  dealing  with  Christ  alone,  and  as 
the  time  of  this  decision  is  the  most  critical  moment 
in  a  human  life,  reason  demands  that  it  should  be 
guarded  from  every  distracting  and  confusing  con- 
dition. 

II. — ^A  False  Assurance 

A  leader  with  a  commanding  personality  (and 
every  successful  evangelist  must  possess  that  char- 
acteristic in  the  extreme)  may  secure  the  public 
action  of  many,  when  the  issue  is  made  one  of 
religious  merit  through  some  public  act.  Under 
such  an  impression,  a  serious  person  may  stand  in  a 
meeting  who  has  no  conception  of  what  is  involved 
in  standing  by  faith  on  the  Rock  Christ  Jesus  ;  or 
he  may  be  persuaded  to  abandon  his  natural  timidity 
when  he  knows  nothing  of  abandoning  his  satanic 
tendency  to  self-help,  and  resting  by  faith  on  that 
which  Christ  has  done  for  him.  The  basis  of  assur- 
ance with  all  such  converts,  if  questioned  carefully, 
will  be  found  to  be  no  more  than  a  consciousness 


28  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

that  they  have  acted  out  the  programme  prescribed 
for  them. 

III. — "  Backsliding  ** 

Careful  students  of  evangehsm  have  noticed  that 
where  the  necessity  of  pubHc  action  as  a  part  of 
conversion  has  been  most  emphasized  there  has 
been  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  God-dishonour- 
ing record  of  so-called  "  backsliding  "  ;  and  this  is 
natural.  The  covenant  of  God  is  to  keep  eternally 
all  who  are  truly  saved,  and  there  are  no  other 
provisions  than  the  one  way  of  salvation  by  Christ's 
willing  substitution,  whereby  God  can  be  just  and 
stiU  be  the  justifier  of  a  sin-cursed  soul.  To  attempt 
to  "  come  unto  God  "  on  the  grounds  of  a  public 
performance,  even  with  great  earnestness,  is  but  to 
fail,  and  the  misguided  soul  who  makes  that  attempt 
when  his  hope  has  proven  false  is  the  hardest,  above 
all  others,  to  reach  thereafter. 

IV. — Discredit  to  the  Covenant  of  God 

As  has  just  been  stated,  the  essential  and  Scriptural 
doctrine  of  the  eternal  keeping  by  God  of  every 
regenerate  soul  has  been  brought  into  discredit 
and  almost  lost.  This  has  come  to  pass  through 
an  attempt  to  reconcile  His  covenants  with  "  actual 
experience "    in   evangelism    to-day.     It   has   been 


FALSE   FORCES   IN   EVANGELISM     29 

necessary  to  question  this  otherwise  clear  doctrine 
of  Scripture  to  allow  for  the  appalling  percentage 
of  failures  in  the  ranks  of  supposed  converts.  But 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  niodification  of  that 
positive  doctrine,  and  the  forced  interpretation  of 
Scripture  to  that  end,  has  been  attempted  only  by 
those  who  have  insisted  on  a  spectacular  conver- 
sion, their  challenge  of  that  glorious  truth  may  be 
set  aside  without  discussion. 

Although  an  innumerable  multitude  may  have 
been  misguided  by  responding  to  false  issues  and 
have,  sooner  or  later,  returned  to  their  own  place 
outside  Christian  fellowship,  the  covenant  of  God 
is  not  involved.  "He  is  able  also  to  save  them 
to  the  uttermost  (eternally)  who  come  unto  God  by 
Him  "  (Christ) — Heb.  vii.  25  ;  He  "  is  able  to  keep 
you  from  falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless  before 
the  presence  of  His  glory  with  ex-ceeding  joy " 
(Jude  24).  And  the  soul  that  believes  in  Christ 
"  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  ;  but  is  passed 
from  death  unto  life  "  (John  v.  24).  Nor  can  any 
"  pluck  them  out  of  My  Fathei's  hand  "  (John  x. 
29),  or  separate  them  "  from  the  love  of  God,  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  "  (Rom.  viii.  39). 

It  is  quite  possible  for  a  uewly-saved  person  to  so 
misunderstand  the  forces  and  habits  of  the  old  life 


30  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

and  the  possible  power  and  victory  of  the  new  hfe  as 
to  be  overtaken  in  sin  and  appear,  for  a  time,  to 
be  "  in  a  far  country  "  ;  yet,  if  he  has  ever  been  in 
the  Father's  house  as  a  son,  he,  Hke  the  prodigal, 
is  still  a  son,  and  will  therefore  be  constantly  con- 
strained by  the  Spirit  to  arise  and  go  to  his  Father. 
Incalculable  harm  has  been  done  to  all  Christen- 
dom by  this  widespread  denial  of  the  grace  and 
faithfulness  of  God.  Because  of  this  denial,  saints 
have  been  occupied  with  futile  attempts  at  self- 
keeping  to  the  neglect  of  true  service  for  God,  and 
intelligent  sinners  have  feared  to  take  the  Christian's 
position  when  reason  warned  them  that  such  a 
position  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  maintain. 

V. — Dishonour  to  the  Spirit  of  God 

The  aim  of  all  public  demands  in  modem  evangel- 
ism is  to  terminate  indifference  and  hesitation  by 
a  positive  decision.  But  this  is  often  undertaken 
without  due  regard  for  the  whole  process  of  prepara- 
tion by  the  Spirit  for  the  intelligent  exercise  of 
saving  faith.  Thus  the  all-important  work  of  the 
Spirit  for  the  unsaved  has  often  been  neglected 
and  the  Spirit  dishonoured  in  the  vain  attempt  to 
hasten  decisions  and  to  secure  visible  results. 

A  true  decision  must  depend  upon  the  action  of 


FALSE    FORCES    IN   EVANGELISM     31 

the  will  of  the  individual  as  he  is  moved  by  his  own 
clear  vision  of  his  place  in  the  saving  work  of  Christ, 
and  that  vision  must  be  created  by  the  Spirit.  When 
this  is  accomplished,  there  will  be  little  occasion  to 
argue  and  plead,  and  methods  which  are  calculated 
to  force  a  decision  will  be  found  to  be  superfluous  ; 
and  any  method  which  is  superfluous  is  usually 
resented  by  intelligent  people.  Such  methods 
create  a  sense  of  unreality  where  there  should  be  a 
growing  reality. 

To  send  out  workers  to  plead  with  individuals  in  a 
miscellaneous  congregation  is  not  only  embarrassing 
to  the  people  thus  approached,  but  is,  in  the  majority 
of  cases,  a  service  which  hardens  and  repels.  Forced 
decisions  sometimes  follow  such  appeals.  These, 
it  may  be  observed,  are  usually  premature  and 
unintelligent  decisions  ;  for  in  such  methods  there 
is  no  waiting  for  the  conviction  of  the  Spirit  and  no 
definite  dependence  upon  His  leading.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  many  who  have  resisted  the 
personal  appeal  have  been  hardened  or  driven 
away. 

Public  methods  which  embarrass  any  person  or 
class  of  persons  are  not  only  useless  but  intrusive. 
There  is  little  gained  in  inviting  all  Christians  in  a 
public  gathering  to  stand,  thus  forcing  all  others 


32  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

into  a  conspicuous  position,  causing  them  annoyance 
and  creating  an  occasion  for  prejudice.  It  is  not 
strange  that  inteUigent  unsaved  people  avoid  meet- 
ings where  these  methods  are  employed.  By 
adopting  such  a  programme  the  evangelist  or  pastor 
is  positively  hindering  the  very  work  of  God  he  is 
attempting  to  do. 

Where  the  spectacular  element  in  public  soul- 
winning  is  eliminated  there  is  little  opportunity  to 
count  supposed  results,  and  the  test  of  conversion 
is  taken  wholly  out  of  the  sphere  of  profession 
and  made  to  rest  on  the  realitv  "^f  a  changed  life 
afterwards. 

The  sincere  evangelist  wno  fearlessly  judges, 
before  God,  every  method  he  employs — judging  them 
as  to  their  exact  value  or  possible  harm  in  their 
influence  on  immortal  souls — will  find  that  many 
methods  are  more  a  habit  than  a  necessity  in  evan- 
gelism, or  that  they  have  been  employed  in  an  effort 
to  produce  visible  results,  rather  than  to  create  a 
means  by  which  sin-burdened  souls  may  find  rest 
and  peace  through  a  personal  and  intelligent  faith 
in  Christ  as  Saviour. 

Lest  it  seem  that  this  criticism  of  modem  methods 
in  evangelism  has  left  no  possible  means  of  bringing 
a  whole  congregation  to  a   point  of  decision,  the 


FALSE    FORCES   IN   EVANGELISM     33 

following  suggestions  are  offered,  which  have  proved 
valuable. 

The  real  value  of  public  methods  will  be  secured 
and  many  evils  avoided  if,  after  explaining  the  way 
of  life  and  during  a  season  of  silent  prayer,  the 
unsaved  are  simply  asked  to  accept  Christ  by  a  con- 
scious act  of  the  will,  directed  in  definite  silent  prayer 
to  God.  After  such  an  appeal,  an  opportunity 
should  be  made  for  personal  conversation  with  any 
who  beheve  they  have  accepted  Christ  by  faith,  or 
any  others  who  may  have  honest  difficulties.  In 
this  conversation  the  individual's  exact  under- 
standing of  the  step  can  be  ascertained  and  his  faith 
strengthened.  Such  conversations  can  easily  be 
secured  in  an  after-meeting,  or  by  offering  some 
attractive  literature  suited  to  beginners  in  the 
Christian  life.  When  it  is  clear  that  an  intelligent 
decision  has  been  made,  confession  of  Christ,  as  a 
personal  Saviour,  should  be  urged  along  with  the 
other  duties  and  privileges  of  the  new  Ufe. 

Messages. — In  considering  messages  as  the  last  of 
the  three  "  false  forces "  in  evangelism  already 
mentioned,  it  may  well  be  restated  that  the  ministry 
of  the  evangelist  of  Scripture  was  intended  to  be 
wider  in  its  scope  than  the  accepted  mission  of  the 


34  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

evangelist  of  to-day.  As  his  name  implies,  he  is  the 
"  bearer  of  glad  tidings,"  and  so  is  in  marked  contrast 
with  the  prophet  who  proclaims  the  great  principles 
of  morality  and  righteousness.  He  has  also  a  far 
different  mission  than  the  pastor  and  teacher  who 
shepherds  the  flock  and  feeds  them  on  the  Word  of 
God. 

The  evangelist  of  Scripture  is  given  a  particular 
message  to  proclaim.  That  message  is  the  "  good 
news  "  of  the  Gospel  of  Grace  ;  it  is  therefore  a 
distinct  body  of  truth  for  this  age.  His  evangel  is 
one  of  "  glad  tidings,"  in  that  it  offers  freedom 
from  the  bondage  of  the  law,  with  attempts  at  self- 
fitting  for  the  presence  of  God,  and  in  that  it  pro- 
claims a  perfect  salvation  by  the  power  of  God 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  and  His  redemption 
by  the  Cross — a  salvation  through  which  God  by  His 
power  produces  a  "  new  creature,"  able,  because  of 
the  new  life  imparted,  to  bring  forth  fruit  to  His 
glory. 

Any  deviation  from  this  prescribed  message  of 
redemptive  truth  is  an  unwarranted  undertaking 
on  the  part  of  the  evangelist,  and  is  fraught  with 
grave  dangers.  On  the  one  hand,  he  may  be  tempted 
to  adopt  the  message  of  the  prophet,  and  so  emphasize 
only  moral  conduct  or  civic  righteousness  as  to  lower 


FALSE   FORCES   IN   EVANGELISM    35 

his  own  aim  from  regeneration  to  reformation  ;  or 
he  may  undertake  the  work  of  the  pastor  and  teacher 
and  deal  with  matters  of  Christian  Uving,  and  thus 
encumber  the  glorious  but  limited  message  of  the 
evangelist.  For  the  issue  before  the  unsaved  is  not 
one  of  after- conduct.  The  life  to  be  led  after 
conversion  can  only  be  determined  by  the  individual 
himself  in  the  light  and  power  of  the  new  relation  to 
Christ,  Whom  he  has  received,  and  the  manner  of  that 
new  life  is  a  personal  matter  between  the  Christian 
and  his  Lord  (Rom.  xiv.  4) .  Yet  the  questions  which 
belong  to  Christian  living,  such  as  forms  of  amuse- 
ment, or  even  church  membership,  are  often  dis- 
cussed by  evangelists,when  deahng  with  the  unsaved, 
and  these  issues  may  become,  in  their  minds  at  least, 
conditions  of  salvation.  The  individual  may  be 
willing  to  accept  Christ,  but  be  wholly  unable  to  see 
beyond  that  one  step  until  that  one  step  is  taken. 

Again,  a  message  may  become  a  "  false  force  "  and, 
to  some  extent,  a  hindrance  in  true  evangelism, 
through  a  common  tendency  to  depend  upon  it  to 
move  the  unsaved  to  decision.  Only  the  Spirit  of 
God  can  illuminate  the  vision  and  convict  the  heart 
of  its  sinfulness  ;  and  while  the  Spirit  may  use  the 
message  to  that  end,  the  work  is  His  and  His  alone. 
The  real    purpose  of  the  message  and  the  utter 


36  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

impossibility  of  its  possessing  convicting  power  in 
and  of  itself  will  be  more  fully  stated  in  another 
chapter,  when  dealing  with  the  illuminating  of  the 
Spirit  as  one  of  the  true  forces  in  the  evangelism 
of  Scripture. 

In  considering  the  true  forces  in  evangelism  as 
they  are  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  it  will  be  seen 
that  they,  in  contrast  with  the  "  false  forces  "  already 
mentioned,  depend  upon  the  activity  of  the  whole 
company  of  believers  ;  that  they  demand  an  unceas- 
ing effort  for  their  fullest  realization  ;  and  that  they, 
from  necessity,  must  usually  be  carried  on  inde- 
pendent of  public  gatherings  or  special  leaders. 
These  true  forces  in  evangelism  will,  for  the  sake  of 
emphasis,  be  taken  up  in  their  reverse  order  ;  begin- 
ning with  the  objective,  or  end,  which  true  evan- 
gelism must  have  in  view,  and  tracing  the  successive 
steps  backward  to  the  real  point  of  human  respon- 
sibility. 


SALVATION,   THE   OBJECTIVE 
IN   EVANGELISM 


CHAPTER    II 

SALVATION,  THE  OBJECTIVE  IN  EVANGELISM 

A  LL  evangelism  finds  its  consummation  in  one 
**  phase  of  the  great  Scriptural  word,  "  Salva- 
tion." A  word  which  covers  more  than  the 
objective  of  evangelism,  in  that  it  includes, 
beyond  the  dehverance  from  the  penalty  and 
condemnation  of  sin  both  the  deliverance  from 
the  present  power  of  sin  and  the  final  unfold- 
ing and  development  of  the  saved  one  into  the 
image  of  Christ.  The  word,  then,  includes  a  whole 
series  of  other  great  doctrines  and  revelations 
in  which  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  are  seen 
working  toward  the  transformation  of  the  individual, 
body,  soul,  and  spirit,  into  a  celestial  being  and  a 
partaker  with  Christ  of  the  heavenly  glory.  This  is 
the  mighty  working  of  the  Triune  God  toward  the 
heavenly  perfection  of  every  one  for  whom  Christ 
died.  Blessed  indeed  are  they  who  learn  to  yield 
themselves  wholly  to  His  saving  power ! 

Because  of  the  universal  satanic  blindness  upon 


40  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

the  minds  of  unregenerate  people  (2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4) 
the  scope  of  the  transforming  work  of  salvation 
is  not  always  understood,  even  where  such  knowledge 
is  boldly  assumed,  and  many  religious  leaders, 
through  this  blindness,  have  ignorantly  turned  away 
from  the  real  Gospel  and  have  sincerely  espoused 
"  another  gospel  "  of  social  reform,  ethical  culture, 
humanitarianism  or  morality.  In  turning  to  these 
good  but  subordinate  things  they  have  revealed, 
both  by  their  careless  rejection  of  the  one  Gospel  of 
Grace  and  by  their  unbounded  enthusiasm  for  these 
unworthy  substitutes,  that  the  riches  of  the  "  glori- 
ous Gospel  01  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  has 
not  dawned  on  them." 

This  unconscious  ignorance  of  the  central  truth  of 
the  Word  of  God  is  one  of  the  mightiest  hindrances 
to  evangelism  to-day  ;  for  not  only  are  the  blinded 
unable  to  take  a  part  in  real  soul-saving  work,  but 
they  have  pleaded  for,  and  to  some  extent  secured,  an 
attitude  of  tolerance  toward  their  doctrines  from 
many  who  should  be  resisting  them  in  defence  of 
the  truth. 

The  spirit  of  tolerance  toward  the  preaching  of 
"  another  gospel,"  instead  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  is 
usually  justified  by  the  assuring  statement  that.the 
Word  of  God  needs  no  defence,  and  therefore  any 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        41 

controversy  with  these  perverters  of  the  truth  would 
be  a  needless  and  aimless  warfare.  To  this  it  may 
be  replied  :  No  defence  of  the  whole  truth  is  ever 
made  from  a  fear  that  man  will  destroy  the  eternal 
Word  itself,  but  that  defence  is  made  from  a  God- 
given  compassion  for  the  m(  ^  itude  who  are  being 
beguiled  away  from  all  hope  .y  the  sophistries  of 
these  teachings  ;  for  any  true  burden  for  the  lost  will 
extend  to  the  misguided  as  much  as  to  the 
unguided. 

With  the  many  pious  substitutes  for  the  one 
Gospel  of  Grace  to-day,  and  the  ecclesiastical  influence 
and  blind  enthusiasm  of  their  promoters,  evangelism 
has  new  enemies  to  face,  and  her  glorious  work  can 
never  be  accomplished  by  waving  the  white  flag  of 
tolerance  before  these  foes. 

Since  much  depends,  in  true  evangelism,  on  a 
clear  understanding  of  all  that  is  included  in  "  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation,"  it  is  important  to 
dwell  at  some  length  on  the  various  aspects  of  that 
great  word.  This  is  undertaken  with  a  deep  con- 
sciousness that  the  heart-comprehension  of  the  glori- 
ous riches  of  salvation  must  depend  upon  a  Divine 
illumination,  or,  as  it  is  stated  in  the  Scriptures  : 
"  That  the  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father 
of  glory,  may  give  unto  you  the  spirit  of  wisdom 


42  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  Him  :  the  eyes 
of  your  understanding  being  enlightened ;  that  ye 
may  know  what  is  the  hope  of  His  calling,  and  what 
the  riches  of  the  glory  of  His  inheritance  in  the 
saints"  (Eph.  i.  17,  18). 

In  I  Cor.  i.  30,  Christ  is  set  forth  as  having  been 
made  unto  the  believer,  "  Righteousness,  Sanctifica- 
tion,  and  Redemption."  These  three  words,  to  some 
extent,  suggest  the  three  tenses — past,  present,  and 
future — of  salvation  ;  for  the  believer  was  saved 
from  condemnation  into  righteousness  and  life  when 
he  believed  ;  he  is  being  saved  from  the  habit  and 
power  of  sin  through  sanctification  ;  and  he  will 
be  saved  from  the  presence  of  sin  when  he,  with  his 
glorious  body,  is  wholly  redeemed  and  complete  in 
the  presence  of  his  Lord  at  His  Coming. 

The  present  and  future  tenses  of  salvation,  though 
in  no  way  a  part  of  evangelism,  should  be  carefully 
distinguished  from  the  past  tense,  which  is  its  true 
objective. 

To  the  believer  who  has  come  into  the  first  great 
tense  of  salvation,  the  body  of  truth  mentioned  above 
which  sets  forth  "  Sanctification,"  and  "  the  second 
tense  of  salvation  "  is  of  greatest  import  ;  for  it 
presents  to  him  the  only  solution  of  all  the  problems 
gathering  about  his  responsibility  to  walk  worthy 


SALVATION,    THE   OBJECTIVE        43 

of  the  vocation  wherewith  he  is  called,  and  to  show 
forth  the  virtues  of  Him  Who  hath  called  him  from 
darkness  into  His  marvellous  light.  The  believer's 
high  position  of  sonship  with  God,  co-partnership 
with  Christ,  and  communion  and  fellowship  with 
the  Spirit  of  Holiness  Who  indwells  him,  demands 
nothing  short  of  a  God-wrought  salvation  from  the 
habit  and  power  of  sin,  which  is  independent  of  all 
human  energy  and  strength  ;  for  human  nature,  at 
its  best,  has  no  capacity  to  produce  the  smallest 
part  of  a  true  God-honouring  life. 

It  may  further  be  stated  in  this  connection  that 
no  intelligent  Christian  can  contemplate  the  three- 
fold fact  of  his  own  high  calling  in  Christ  Jesus,  his 
sinful  nature,  and  the  overpowering  strength  of  his 
adversary  Satan,  and  not  welcome  the  God-pro- 
vided victory  and  salvation  by  the  Spirit  from  the 
control  and  domination  of  evil.  It  is,  however,  often 
difficult  for  the  child  of  God  to  abandon  his  own 
resources  and  tendency  to  self-help  as  a  means  to 
victory,  and  to  rest  in  faith  and  expectation  toward 
God  that  He  wiU  work  in  him  both  to  will  and  to  do 
of  His  good  pleasure  ;  yet  the  victory  over  evil  is 
never  gained  by  any  other  plan  than  a  complete 
dependence  upon  the  saving  power  of  God  through 
Jesus  Christ.     "  He  that  hath  begun  a  good  work 


44  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

in  you  will  perform  it  unto  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ  " 
(Phil.  i.  6). 

So  it  is  revealed  that  the  last  tense  of  salva- 
tion, even  that  faultless  presentation  before  the 
presence  of  His  glory,  is  a  work  that  is  accomplished 
independent  of  all  human  energy  and  strength. 

In  each  revealed  purpose  of  God  for  man  in  the 
ages  past  some  responsibility  has  fallen  upon 
the  faithfulness  of  man  ;  but  in  this  age  of  grace, 
wherein  God  is  calling  out  a  heayenly  people,  it  is  as 
though  He  would  not  allow  the  glorious  result  to  be 
marred  by  one  human  touch,  so  perfectly  has  He 
reserved  to  Himself  every  necessary  step  in  the 
great  work  of  man's  salvation. 

Returning  to  the  first  tense  of  salvation,  or  that 
which  is  the  real  objective  in  true  evangelism,  it  will 
be  seen  that  this  part  of  the  saving  work  of  God 
includes  the  greatest  issues  that  can  come  into  a 
human  life.  Some  of  the  more  important  aspects 
of  the  first  tense  of  salvation  will  here  be  considered 
separately  : 

I. — The  penalty  of  sin  and  the  condemnation  of  an 
offended  law  are  wholly  set  aside  through  justifica- 
tion, and  on  the  grounds  of  the  substitutionary 
sacrificial  death  of  Christ.  As  it  is  recorded  in 
Eph.  i.  7  :  "  In  Whom  we  have  redemption  through 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        45 

His  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  according  to  the 
riches  of  His  grace,"  and  so  complete  has  been  this 
atoning  work  that  God,  in  perfect  justice  and 
righteousness,  can  not  only  forgive  and  cancel  all 
sin,  but  He  can  also  receive  the  forgiven  sinner  as 
covered  with  all  the  worthiness  of  Christ.  The  same 
passage  records  :  "  Having  predestinated  us  unto 
the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  unto  Him- 
self, according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  His  will,  to 
the  praise  of  the  glory  of  His  grace,  wherein  He  hath 
made  us  accepted  in  the  beloved  "  (Eph.  i.  5,  6). 

This  is  an  atonement  based  upon  substitution.  It 
is  the  only  meaning  given  in  the  New  Testament  to 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  it  is  the  only  value  foreseen 
in  that  death  in  the  types  and  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Testament.  In  Isa.  liii.  5,  6,  it  is  written  :  "  But  He 
was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace 
was  upon  Him  ;  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed. 
All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned 
every  one  to  his  own  way  ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid 
on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  To  reject  this 
repeated  and  only  revelation  of  the  purpose  of  God 
in  the  Cross  is  but  to  set  sail  upon  a  shoreless  sea  of 
uncertainty,  to  abandon  the  only  cure  for  sin  which 
the  world  can  ever  know,  and  to  forsake  the  one 


46  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

and  only  foundation  upon  which  every  hope  for 
humanity  is  made  to  rest,  according  to  God's  revela- 
tion to  man. 

This  fact,  namely,  that  the  Divine  compassion 
fulfilled  all  the  demands  of  righteousness  in  behalf 
of  sinful  and  unrighteous  man,  stands  alone  without 
any  worthy  comparison  or  illustration  in  the  range 
of  human  experience.  Nevertheless  there  are  inter- 
preters of  the  meaning  of  the  death  of  Christ  who 
claim  that  they  find  a  line  of  analogy  to  this  great 
revelation  in  the  things  of  this  world.  They  claim 
that  such  sacrifice  is  to  be  seen  in  the  dying  of  one 
generation  of  flowers  for  the  enrichment  of  future 
generations  of  flowers  ;  and  the  suffering  of  a  mother 
for  her  child  is,  in  principle,  akin  to  the  suffering  of 
the  Cross.  The  failure  of  all  such  comparisons  may 
be  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  dying  of  one  generation 
of  flowers  does  not  save  any  future  generations  from 
death  ;  nor  does  the  suffering  of  a  mother  substitute, 
or  in  any  way  relieve,  the  pain  and  sufferings  of  the 
child. 

Christ  did  not  die  to  show  us  how  to  die  :  He  died 
that  we  might  not  die.  Apart  from  this  central 
distinction,  there  may  be  maintained  a  "  form  of 
religion  "  ;  but  there  can  be  no  power  in  salvation. 
There  may  be  a  carefully  selected  use  of  Scripture  ; 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        47 

but  there  can  be  no  reasonable  interpretation  of  the 
whole  testimony  of  God. 

The  sin  question  was  met  and  perfectly  dealt  with 
by  God,  Himself  being  the  sole  mediator,  and  the 
result  is  a  perfect  lifting  of  all  penalty  and  condem- 
nation for  sin.  All  himianity  was  included  in  this 
mediation  ;  for  it  is  written,  "  He  is  the  propitiation 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  and  "  He  tasted 
death  for  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world," 
and  again,  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave 
His  only  begotten  Son."  Hence  it  is  revealed  that 
the  condemnation  of  the  unsaved  is  not  now  the 
sins  which  Christ  bore  in  His  body  on  the  tree  ;  but 
the  condemnation  rests  in  the  fact  of  the  rejection 
of  the  Sin-bearer.  Thus  it  is  written  :  "  He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  is  not  condemned  :  but  he 
that  believeth  not  is  condemned  already,  because 
he  hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  begot- 
ten Son  of  God."  Even  so,  the  Spirit  convinces  a 
world  that  rejects  its  propitiation  of  but  one  great 
sin  :   "  Of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  Me." 

The  believer,  in  contrast  to  the  unsaved,  has 
consented  to  the  atonement  as  the  basis  of  his 
salvation,  and  has  thus  appropriated  by  faith  the 
propitiation  made  for  him. 

The  exact  position  of  the  believer  in  relation  to 


48  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

the  condemnation  justly  due  to  him  for  his  sins  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  relation  which  an  executed 
criminal  bears  to  the  law  which  has  already  con- 
demned and  put  him  to  death.  He  has  been  drawn 
into  court,  judged  and  sentenced  to  death  for  his 
sins,  and  the  death  penalty  has  been  perfectly 
executed.  His  execution  has,  however,  been  borne 
for  him,  in  substitution,  by  the  very  Judge  Whose 
righteousness  condemned  him.  For  it  must  ever 
be  remembered  that  it  was  the  Judge  Who  pro- 
nounced the  death  sentence — "  The  soul  that 
sinneth,  it  shall  die,"  and  "  The  wages  of  sin  is 
death  " — Who  also  in  His  great  love  bowed  the 
heavens  and  came  down  from  that  throne,  making 
•bare  His  Own  bosom  and  receiving  into  His  Own 
breast  the  very  death  blow  He  had  in  righteousness 
imposed.  It  was  God  that  "  was  in  Cnrist,  reconcil- 
ing the  world  unto  Himself,  not  imputing  their 
trespasses  unto  them." 

The  believer,  thus  standing  beyond  his  own  per- 
fect execution,  is  in  a  position  which  is  not  under 
law ;  for  the  last  demand  of  the  law  has  been 
satisfied.  He  is  in  a  position,  therefore,  wherein 
God  is  free  to  work  out  every  desire  of  His  Own  love 
without  a  possible  challenge  of  His  perfect  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness.     Since  all  the  demands  of 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        49 

righteousness  have  been  so  fully  satisfied,  it  is  written 
that  God  can  remain  just,  and  still  be  the  justifier 
of  him  that  believeth.  When  God  is  thus  free  to 
act  He  will  accomplish  by  His  Own  power  His  Own 
eternal  purpose,  and  the  believer  will  finally  be 
presented  faultless  before  the  presence  of  His  glory, 
and  will  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  His  Son. 

Wonderful  indeed  are  the  figures  used  in  Scripture 
to  set  forth  the  complete  removal  of  sin  and  con- 
demnation from  the  one  who  counts  God's  provided 
sacrifice  in  the  Cross  to  be  his  only  hope.  In  Micah 
vii.  19  it  is  said  of  Israel  :  "  And  thou  wilt  cast  all 
their  sins  into  the  depth  of  the  sea  "  ;  so  also,  in 
Psa.  ciii.  12  :  "  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west, 
so  far  hath  He  removed  our  transgressions  from 
us,"  "  And  their  sins  and  iniquities  will  I  remember 
no  more  "  (Heb.  x.  17).  And  again,  the  strong 
figure  of  "  blotting  out  "  is  frequently  used  :  "  I, 
even  I,  am  He  that  blotteth  out  thy  transgressions 
for  My  Own  sake,  and  I  will  not  remember  thy  sins  " 
(Isa.  xliii.  25).  "I  have  blotted  out,  as  a  thick 
cloud,  thy  transgressions,  and,  as  a  cloud,  thy 
sins  :  return  unto  Me  ;  for  I  have  redeemed  thee  " 
(Isa,  xliv.  22).  "  But  those  things  which  God  hath 
before  showed  by  the  mouth  of  all  His  prophets,  that 
Christ  should  suffer,  He  hath  so  fulfilled.     Repent 


50  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

ye,  therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may 
be  blotted  out "  (Acts.  iii.  19). 

So  again,  this  forgiveness  of  sin,  as  in  the  passage 
just  quoted,  is  said  to  be  made  possible  only  in  the 
blood  of  the  Cross.  In  Col.  ii.  13-14  :  "  And  you, 
being  dead  in  your  sins  and  the  uncircumcision  of 
your  flesh,  hath  He  quickened  together  with  Him, 
having  forgiven  you  all  trespasses ;  blotting  out 
the  handwritings  of  ordinances  that  was  against  us, 
which  was  contrary  to  us,  and  took  it  out  of  the  way, 
nailing  it  to  His  Cross." 

II. — Not  only  is  sin  and  condemnation  removed  in 
the  first  tense  of  salvation,  but  the  beUever  is  said 
to  be  "clothed  with  the  righteousness  of  God  "  in 
place  of  the  "  filthy  rags "  of  self-righteousness, 
as  the  following  Scriptures  describe  :  "  But  we  are 
as  an  unclean  thing,  and  our  righteousnesses  are 
as  filthy  rags  "  (Isa.  Ixiv.  6).  "I  will  greatly  rejoice 
in  the  Lord,  my  soul  shall  be  joyful  in  my  God  ; 
for  He  hath  clothed  me  with  the  garments  of  His 
salvation,  He  hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of 
righteousness  "  (Isa.  Ixi.  10).  "  Let  thy  priests  be 
clothed  with  righteousness  ;  and  thy  saints  shout 
for  joy  "  (Psa.  cxxxii.  9). 

So,  also,  many  other  passages  reveal  that  this 
imputed    righteousness    is    possible    only    on    the 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        51 

grounds  of  faith  in  Christ  as  personal  Saviour  through 
His  sacrificial  death  :  "  Unto  Adam  also  and  to  his 
wife  did  the  Lord  make  coats  of  skins,  and  clothed 
them  "  (Gen.  iii.  21).  A  striking  type  of  Christ 
made  our  righteousness  through  the  shedding  of 
blood.  "  But  now  the  righteousness  of  God  without 
the  law  is  manifest,  being  witnessed  by  the  law  and 
the  prophets  ;  even  the  righteousness  of  God  which 
is  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  all  and  upon  all  them 
that  believe"  (Rom.  iii.  21,  22).  "What  shall  we 
say  that  Abraham  our  father  as  pertaining  to  the 
flesh  hath  found  ?  For  if  Abraham  were  justified 
by  works,  he  hath  whereof  to  glory  ;  but  not  before 
God.  For  what  saith  the  Scripture  ?  Abraham 
believed  God,  and  it  was  counted  unto  him  for 
righteousness.  Now  to  him  that  worketh  is  the 
reward  not  reckoned  of  grace,  but  of  debt.  But  to 
him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  Him  that 
justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for 
righteousness.  Even  as  David  also  describeth  the 
blessedness  of  the  man  unto  whom  God  imputeth 
righteousness  wdthout  works "  (Rom.  iv.  1-6). 
"  For  they,  being  ignorant  of  God's  righteousness, 
and  going  about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness, 
have  not  submitted  themselves  unto  the  righteous- 
ness of  God.     For  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 


52  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth  "  (Rom. 
X.  3,  4).  "  That  I  may  win  Christ,  and  be  foimd  in 
Him,  not  having  my  own  righteousness,  which  is  of 
the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of 
Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith  " 
(Phil.  iii.  8,  9).  "  And  to  her  was  granted  that  she 
should  be  arrayed  in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white : 
for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteousness  of  saints  " 
(Rev.  xix.  8).  "  But  of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus, 
Who  of  God  was  made  unto  us  wisdom  from  God, 
and  righteousness  and  sanctification,  and  redemp- 
tion "  (i  Cor.  i.  30,  R.V.).  "  For  He  hath  made 
Him  to  be  sin  for  us,  Who  knew  no  sin  ;  that  we 
might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him  " 
(2  Cor.  v.  21) 

Space  has  been  given  to  these  many  passages  that 
imputed  righteousness  may  be  seen  to  be,  as  it  is, 
an  important  theme  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, and  a  necessary  thing  as  well,  if  sinful  man 
is  ever  to  appear  before  Jehovah  God.  So  also 
this  "  imputed "  righteousness  is  said  in  these 
Scriptures  to  be  Christ  Himself  "  made  .  .  , 
our  righteousness  "  by  an  act  of  God  ;  for  according, 
to  the  last  passage  quoted,  the  believer  is  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  in  Christ  as  perfectly  as  Christ 
was   made   sin   for   him.     His   position  is   said   to 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        53 

be  "in  Christ "  and  he  is  "  accepted  in  the 
beloved." 

There  is  also  a  position  of  perfect  justification 
through  the  work  of  the  Sin-bearer.  "  He  hath 
become  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  beheveth "  (Rom.  x.  4).  Under  these 
"  riches  of  grace  "  righteousness  is  not  required  ; 
but  is  rather  bestowed  as  the  basis  of  acceptance 
before  God,  and  righteousness  is  fulfilled  in,  rather 
than  by  the  believer. 

The  revelation  that  the  righteousness  of  God  is 
"  imto  all  and  upon  all  that  believe  "  has  always 
seemed  an  impossible  and  unreasonable  thing  from 
the  view-point  of  the  "  wisdom  of  this  world  "  ; 
but  it  is  not  impossible  or  unreasonable  in  the  light 
of  the  Cross. 

III. — Also  there  is  in  salvation  an  impartation  of 
a  new  life  ;  and  that  which  alone  can  bring  relief 
to  one  who  is  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  It  is 
a  new  creation  and  regeneration  by  the  power  of 
God  on  the  grounds  of  the  blood  of  the  Cross.  It, 
too,  is  bestowed  at  the  beginning  of  salvation. 

The  following  passages,  selected  from  over  eighty 
New  Testament  references  on  this  theme,  will  give 
some  conception  of  the  whole  doctrine  and  revela- 
tion : 


54  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

(a)  It  is  in  no  way  the  present  possession  of  the 
unsaved.  "  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him, 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be 
bom  again  (from  above),  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God  "  (John  iii.  3).  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
you.  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and 
drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no  hfe  in  you  "  (John  vi. 
53).  "  Because  strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow 
the  way,  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be 
that  find  it  "  (Matt.  vii.  14). 

(b)  Eternal  life  is  the  present  possession  of  the 
believer.  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  He  that 
heareth  My  words,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent 
Me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not  come  into 
condemnation ;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
life  "  (John  v.  24).  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son 
hath  everlasting  life  :  and  he  that  beheveth  not  the 
Son  shall  not  see  life  ;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him  "  (John  iii.  36).  "  These  things  have  I 
written  unto  you  that  beUeve  on  the  name  of  the 
Son  of  God  ;  that  ye  may  know  that  ye  have 
eternal  life  "  (i  John  v.  13). 

While  eternal  life  is  a  present  possession  of  the 
believer  and  now  secure  (John  v.  24;  x.  28),  it  is, 
like  salvation,  referred  to  a  few  times  in  its  future 
aspect  :    "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        55 

give  thee  the  crown  of  life  "  (Rev.  ii.  10).  "  For 
godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  the 
promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is 
to  come  "  (i  Tim.  iv.  8). 

(c)  Eternal  life  is  from  Christ.  "  In  Him  was  life  ; 
and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men  "  (John  i.  4). 
"  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life  :  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by 
me  "  (John  xiv.  6).  "  But  ye  denied  the  Holy  One 
and  the  Just,  and  desired  a  murderer  to  be  granted 
unto  you ;  and  killed  the  Prince  of  life,  whom  God 
hath  raised  from  the  dead ;  whereof  we  are  witnesses  " 
(Acts  iii.  14, 15).  "  This  is  the  record,  that  God  hath 
given  unto  us  eternal  life,  and  the  life  is  in  His 
Son  "  (i  John  v.  11). 

(d)  Eternal  life  is  the  indwelling  Christ  (also  spoken 
of  as  a  "  new  nature  "  2  Pet.  i,  4  ;  and  the  "  new 
man,"  Col.  iii.  10).  "  Then  Jesus  said  unto  them. 
Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you  ;  Except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have 
no  life  in  you.  Whoso  eateth  My  flesh,  and  drinketh 
My  blood,  hath  eternal  life  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up 
at  the  last  day.  For  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and 
My  blood  is  drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  flesh 
and  drinketh  My  blood,  dwelleth  in  Me,  and  I  in 
him.     As  the  hving  Father  hath  sent  Me,  and  I 


56  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

live  by  the  Father  :  so  he  that  eateth  Me,  even  he 
shall  live  by  Me  "  (John  vi.  53-57).  "  To  whom 
God  would  make  known  what  is  the  riches  of  the 
glory  of  this  mystery  among  the  Gentiles  ;  which  is 
Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory  "  (Col.  i.  27).  "  When 
Christ,  Who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall  ye  also 
appear  with  Him  in  glory  "  (Col,  iii.  4).  "I  am 
crucified  with  Christ ;  nevertheless  I  live  ;  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me  :  and  the  life  which  I  now 
hve  in  the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God, 
Who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me  "  (Gal.  ii. 
20),  "  Examine  yourselves,  whether  ye  be  in  the 
faith  ;  prove  your  own  selves.  Know  ye  not  your 
own  selves,  how  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you,  except 
ye  be  reprobates "  (2  Cor.  xiii.  5)  ?  "  Always 
bearing  about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  made 
manifest  in  our  body  "  (2  Cor.  iv.  10). 

(e)  Eternal  life  is  conditioned  on  faith  in  Christ  as 
Saviour.  "  But  these  are  written,  that  ye  might 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ; 
and  that  believing  ye  might  have  Ufe  through  His 
name  "  (John  xx.  31),  "  But  as  many  as  received 
Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  Sons  of 
God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His  name  :  which 
were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        57 

nor  of  the  will  of  man.  but  of  God  "  (John  i.  12,  13). 
"  For  the  waees  of  sin  is  death  ;  but  the  gift  of  God 
is  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord " 
(Rom.  vi.  23). 

Thus  regeneration  is  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  as 
a  most  important  part  of  the  work  of  salvation  ; 
and  since  all  its  aspects  are  outside  human  limitation, 
it  is  wholly  omitted  from  the  religions  of  men  ;  and 
since  it  is  the  only  gateway  through  which  a  soul 
can  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness  and 
translated  into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son  (Col.  i. 
14),  it,  too,  is  carefully  omitted  from  the  creeds  of 
Satan,  and  from  the  teachings  of  his  apostles  (2  Cor. 
ii.  13-15).  Yet,  if  this  revelation  is  rejected,  what 
other  interpretation  can  be  given  to  this  great  body 
of  truth  ?  Or  what  other  dynamic  can  be  substi- 
tuted that  will  enable  the  soul  to  rise  to  the  present 
and  future  estate  of  the  Christian,  as  that  estate  is 
described  in  the  Word  of  God  ? 

IV. — The  Gift  of  the  Spirit.  The  God-honouring 
quality  of  life  in  the  believer  has  suffered  untold 
failure  through  the  almost  universal  confusion  and 
neglect  of  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  in  and  upon  the  believer.  This  misunder- 
standing begins  even  with  that  part  of  the  Spirit's 
work  in  which  He  prepares  a  soul  for  salvation. 


58  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

In  the  relation  of  the  Spirit  to  the  believer  it  is, 
perhaps,  most  important  to  recognize  that  the  Spirit 
takes  His  permanent  abode  in  the  believer  at  the 
moment  he  is  saved.  Receiving  the  Spirit  is  not, 
then,  a  "  second  blessing  "  bestowed  upon  especially 
consecrated  Christians  in  answer  to  believing  prayer  ; 
for,  since  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  since  the  Gospel 
was  given  to  the  Gentiles  as  recorded  in  Acts  x., 
the  Spirit  has  taken  His  place  in  the  believer 
at  the  moment  he  has  passed  from  death  unto 
life. 

In  this  connection  it  need  only  be  remembered 
that  in  Rom.  v.  i-ii,  where  some  immediate  results 
of  justification  by  faith  are  enumerated,  it  is  stated 
in  the  fifth  verse  that "  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is  given  unto 
us."  Also  Paul,  while  correcting  the  Corinthian 
Christians  for  unmentionable  sins,  based  his  whole 
appeal  to  them  on  the  fact  that  they  were  the 
temples  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (i  Cor.  vi.  19).  So,  also, 
in  Rom.  viii.  9  :  "  But  ye  are  not  in  the  flesh,  but 
in  the  Spirit,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell  in 
you.  Now  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
he  is  none  of  His."  And  Gal.  iv.  6  :  "  And  because 
ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  His 
Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father." 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        59 

It  is  possible  and  necessary  to  be  "  filled  with  the 
Spirit"  anew  for  every  time  of  need  (Eph.  v.  18)  ; 
but  that  should  never  be  confused  with  receiving 
the  Spirit,  which  is  one  of  the  aspects  of  the  first 
tense  of  salvation. 

By  this  new  relation  with  the  Spirit,  the  believer 
becomes  enabled  at  once  to  meet  all  the  demands 
of  his  new  life  ;  both  as  to  its  victory  over  the 
"  old  man  "  with  the  desires  and  habits  of  the  flesh, 
and  as  to  the  new  undertakings  for  God  of  the  "  new 
man  "  in  all  holy  living  and  service  which  are  so 
infinitely  beyond  all  human  power  and  might.  The 
fact  that  he  comes  instantly  into  possession  of  suffi- 
cient power  by  the  Spirit  to  live  wholly  unto  God 
is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  world's  ideal  of  "  char- 
acter-building," which  demands  years  of  painful 
defeat  and  failure.  The  believer  has  but  to  learn 
to  yield  himself  wholly  to  the  power  of  the  indwelling 
Spirit  to  find  that  he  is  delivered  from  all  the  "  works 
of  the  flesh  "  which  are  these  :  "  Adultery,  fornica- 
tion, uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft, 
hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife,  seditions, 
heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  reveUings, 
and  such  like  "  ;  and  in  the  place  of  these,  the  Spirit 
Who  indwells  the  beHever  will  bear  in  him  "  the 
Iruit  of  the  Spirit "  ;    which  is  "  love,  joy,  peace, 


6o  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance  "  (Gal.  v.  19-24). 

Thus  the  behever,  having  received  the  Spirit  at 
the  moment  he  was  saved,  and  being  wholly  yielded 
to  Him,  is  enabled  from  that  moment  to  realize 
victory  over  the  "  old  nature,"  the  flesh,  and  his 
enemy,  Satan.  He  is  able,  also,  to  experience  a  holy 
life  in  fellowship  with  God  ;  and  to  find  his  indivi- 
dual gift  of  the  Spirit  for  service  (Rom.  xii.  3-8  ; 
I  Cor.  xii.  4-31)  ;  and  while  there  is  much  sanctifying 
and  teaching  work  of  the  Spirit  yet  to  be  accom- 
plished in  him  he  may,  from  the  first,  fill  to  the  full 
all  the  present  will  of  God  for  him. 

V. — The  Baptism  of  the  Spirit.  Any  understanding 
of  this  aspect  of  salvation  must  depend,  in  a  large 
measure,  upon  a  clear  conception  of  the  various 
meanings  of  the  word  "  church  "  as  it  is  used  in  the 
Bible.  While  that  word  often  refers  to  a  local 
organization  of  professing  Christians,  the  word  is 
more  often  used  to  designate  the  whole  company  of 
regenerate  people  who  have  been,  or  will  be  saved 
during  this  age  of  grace.  This  body  of  people,  or 
organism,  is  the  true  church  of  the  Scriptures.  It  is 
sometimes  mentioned  directly,  and  sometimes  in 
types  and  figures,  which  suggest  the  perfect  union 
that  exists  between  Christ  and  the  believers,  and 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        6i 

between  believers  themselves.  The  Shepherd  and 
the  sheep  (John  x.)  ;  the  Vine  and  the  branches 
(John  XV.)  ;  the  Comer  Stone  and  all  the  stones  of 
the  building  (Eph.  ii.  19-22)  ;  the  Bridegroom  and 
the  bride  (Eph.  v.  29  ;  2  Cor,  xi.  2  ;  Rev.  vi.  9,  with 
many  Old  Testament  types)  ;  the  Living  Head  and 
the  one  body  with  its  many  members  (i  Cor.  xii. 
12-31 ;  Eph.  i.  22,  23,  etc.).  The  gathering  out  of 
this  company  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  age 
(Acts  XV.  13-18)  ;  for  they  are  the  heavenly  people 
whose  purpose  and  glory  will  be  manifest  in  all  the 
ages  to  come. 

It  is  into  this  body  of  glorious  heavenly  people  that 
the  believer  is  organically  placed  by  the  baptism  of 
the  Spirit  at  the  moment  he  is  saved.  This  bap- 
tism, by  which  he  is  united  to  his  Lord  and  to  his 
fellow-members  in  the  same  body,  surpasses  all 
human  understanding,  and  is  a  union  that  is  closer 
than  any  human  relationship.  The  husband  and 
wife  are,  in  the  purpose  of  God,  "  one  flesh  "  ;  while 
it  is  said  of  this  mystic  union  of  the  church  with  its 
"  Living  Head  "  that  they  are  "  one  spirit  "  :  "  For 
by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  body, 
whether  we  be  Jew  or  Gentile,  whether  we  be 
bond  or  free ;  and  have  been  all  made  to 
drink    into    one    Spirit  "    (i    Cor.    xii.    13).     "  He 


62  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

that  is  joined  unto  the  Lord  is  one  spirit " 
(i  Cor.  vi.  17). 

So  great  a  relationship  must  produce  some 
personal  experience  in  the  believer,  even  though  this 
doctrine  is  wholly  unknown  by  him  ;  hence  the  test 
is  given  for  all  professing  Christians,  "  We  know  that 
we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  because  we 
love  the  brethren.  He  that  loveth  not  his  brother 
(Christian)  abideth  in  death  "  (i  John  iii.  14). 

The  believer's  union  in  the  body,  as  has  been 
stated,  is  perfect  and  complete  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  his  saved  life ;  and,  while  it  imposes  no 
demands  in  personal  service  beyond  his  individual 
responsibility  as  a  believer,  it  opens  before  him  the 
blessed  certainty  of  going  with  that  body  to  meet  the 
Lord  when  He  comes  to  receive  His  own  (i  Thes.  iv. 
13-19)  ;  and  to  be  of  the  bride,  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Bridegroom,  in  the  palace  of  the  King. 

VI. — The  Christian  Priest.  The  believer  is  also 
constituted  a  priest  unto  God  when  he  enters  the 
saved  life  ;  he  is  one  of  the  whole  company  of  priests, 
which  is  the  true  church  ;  and  he  has  access,  through 
the  blood  of  the  Cross,  into  the  hohest  place,  where 
Christ,  the  High  Priest,  is  now  entered  in.  The 
believer,  as  a  priest  in  the  holiest  place,  is  privileged, 
like  the  priest  of  old,  to  offer  his  sacrifice  and  praise 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        63 

unto  God,  and  to  intercede  before  God  for  his  fellow- 
men. 

VII. — The  Intercession  and  Advocacy  of  Christ. 
Three  times  over  in  the  Epistles  it  is  recorded  that 
Jesus  now  lives  to  make  intercession  for  behevers 
(Rom.  viii.  34;  Heb.  vii.  25,  9-24).  In  addition  to 
this,  Christ  said  in  His  High  Priestly  prayer  :  "I 
pray  for  them,  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  them 
which  Thou  hast  given  me  ;  for  they  are  Thine  " 
(John  xvii.  9).  Thus  the  unregenerate,  when  they 
believe,  come  instantly  into  the  place  of  privilege 
wherein  Jesus  becomes  their  Intercessor.  This  is 
a  vital  factor  in  the  safety  and  security  of  the  one 
who  is  resting  in  Christ  by  faith  ;  for  it  is  in  this 
connection  that  these  references  to  the  intercession 
of  Jesus  occur.  Following  the  question,  "  Who  can 
lay  anything  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?  "  and 
"  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  "  is  the  assuring 
answer  :  "  It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather,  that  is 
risen  again,  Who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
Who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us  "  (Rom.  viii. 
33,  34).  And  again  :  "  Wherefore  He  is  able  to 
save  them  to  the  uttermost  (evermore)  that  come 
unto  God  by  Him,  seeing  He  ever  Uveth  to  make 
intercession  for  them  "  (Heb.  vii.  25). 

Thus  Christ,  as  Intercessor,  stands  between  the 


64  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

weakness  and  helplessness  of  the  saint  and  the  whole 
requirement  of  God. 

As  Advocate,  He  meets  the  transgressions  and 
failure  of  the  believer,  on  the  ground  of  His  all- 
sufficient  sacrifice  for  sin.  It  is  written  :  "  My  little 
children,  these  things  write  I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin 
not.  And  if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with 
the  Father,  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous.  And  He 
is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  :  and  not  for  ours 
only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  " 
(i  John  ii.  I,  2).  So,  to  the  behever,  it  is  said  : 
"  \i  we  confess  our  sins.  He  is  faithful  and  just  to 
forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all 
unrighteousness  "  (i  John  i.  9).  With  the  Advo- 
cate pleading  His  own  sufficient  atonement  for  the 
sins  of  the  saved  one,  the  removal  of  transgression 
is  no  longer  of  present  mercy  ;  for  God  is  said  to  be 
"  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins." 

Thus  Christ  has  become  both  the  Intercessor  and 
Advocate  for  the  believer  ;  providing  him  with  all 
cleansing  from  the  defilement  of  sin  and  becoming 
his  assurance  of  security,  in  spite  of  his  weakness  and 
unworthiness  ;  and  all  this  from  the  moment  he 
comes  "  unto  God  by  him." 

Any  attempt  to  describe  this  salvation  must  prove 
inadequate  ;   for  the  half  has  never  been  told  of  the 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE        65 

riches  of  grace  in  Christ  Jesus.  Yet  enough  has 
been  stated  to  show  that  the  first  work  in  salvation, 
which  is  offered  to  the  unregenerate  on  the  grounds 
of  the  merit  and  sacrifice  of  Christ,  is  a  stupendous 
and  instantaneous  transformation  of  the  whole 
estate  of  man  from  the  power  of  darkness  and  the 
condemnation  of  sin,  into  the  glorious  light,  liberty 
and  security  of  the  sons  of  God.  It  is  the  un- 
measured power,  wisdom  and  love  of  God  working, 
at  His  own  infinite  cost,  to  create  a  new  humanity, 
redeemed  and  heavenly  in  being.  Before  such  an 
objective  the  humanitarian  substitutes,  offered  by 
Satan  or  man,  pale  into  insignificance  and  fade 
away. 

This  salvation  is  in  no  way  the  product  of  human 
thought  or  invention  :  but  it  has  rather  "  appeared  " 
as  a  "  revelation  "  from  God  to  man  (Tit.  iii.  4, 
and  Gal.  i.  11,  12).  The  awe-inspiring  words, 
"  scholars  have  agreed  "  is  the  final  evidence  offered 
in  defence  of  other  so  called  "  gospels  "  of  to-day  : 
but  of  the  one  true  Gospel  of  Grace  it  may  be  said 
"  all  Scripture  has  agreed,"  for  it  is  the  central 
message  of  the  Bible  from  its  beginning  to 
its  end. 

This  great  salvation  is  offered  to  man  as  a  perfect 
whole  and  therefore  cannot  be  divided  ;  for  there 


66  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

are  no  Divine  provisions  whereby  any  portion  of 
this  mighty  work  can  be  accepted  apart  from  the 
whole.  He  who  would  accept  the  forgiveness  of 
sin,  or  a  place  with  the  redeemed  in  glory,  can  do  so 
only  as  he  accepts  the  Lord  Christ ;  and  with 
Him,  all  that  God  in  His  infinite  love  would  bestow. 
And  when  he  is  thus  saved  he  will  but  little  compre- 
hend the  extent  of  that  redeeming  work ;  yet  his 
limited  understanding,  while  it  may  deprive  him  of 
much  joy  and  blessing,  does  not  change  one  fact  of 
his  new  and  glorious  estate.  It  remains  true,  in 
spite  of  his  ignorance,  that  God  has  "  given  him  all 
things  richly  to  enjoy." 

It  is  also  clear  that  the  transcendent  undertaking 
of  salvation  is  wholly  a  work  of  God,  since  its  every 
phase  depends  upon  a  power  that  surpasses  the 
whole  range  of  human  strength.  Because  of  this, 
the  condition  of  salvation  is  reasonable,  which 
demands  only  an  attitude  of  expectation  toward 
God.  In  preparation  for  this,  the  blinded  and  self- 
sufficient  person  must  not  only  be  so  wrought  upon 
that  he  will  want  to  be  saved  ;  but  he  must  see  his 
utter  helplessness  apart  from  the  power  of  God  and 
the  sacrifice  of  the  Cross,  and  this,  in  spite  of  the 
blinding  and  opposition  of  Satan  who  energizes 
him  (Eph.  ii.  2). 


SALVATION,    THE    OBJECTIVE         &y 

Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  Surely  not 
the  eloquent  preacher  or  the  pleading  evangelist  I 
God  alone  is  sufficient ;  and  He  has  fully  provided 
for  the  necessary  preparation  of  mind  and  heart  in 
the  all-important  conviction  of  the  Spirit. 


THE 
CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT 


CHAPTER    III 

THE   CONVICTING  OF  THE   SPIRIT 

r'VERY  soul-winner  becomes  aware,  sooner  or 
*-^  later,  of  the  fact  that  the  vast  company  of 
imsaved  people  do  not  realize  the  seriousness  of 
their  lost  estate  ;  nor  do  they  become  alarmed  even 
when  the  most  direct  warning  and  appeal  is  given  to 
them.  They  may  be  normally  intelligent  and  keen  to 
comprehend  any  opportunity  for  personal  advance- 
ment in  material  or  intellectual  things ;  yet  there 
is  over  them  a  spell  of  indifference  and  neglect 
toward  the  things  that  would  secure  for  them  any 
right  relation  to  God.  All  the  provisions  of  grace 
with  the  present  and  future  blessedness  of  the 
redeemed  are  listened  to  by  these  people  without 
a  reasonable  response.  They  are,  perhaps,  sym- 
pathetic, warm-hearted  and  kind ;  they  are  full  of 
tenderness  toward  all  human  suffering  and  need ; 
but  their  sinfulness  before  God  and  their  imperative 
need  of  a  Saviour  are  strangely  neglected.  They 
lie  down  to  sleep  without  fear  and  awaken  to  a  life 

71 


72  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

that  is  free  from  thought  or  obligation  toward  God. 
The  faithful  minister  soon  leams,  to  his  sorrow, 
that  his  most  careful  presentation  of  truth  and 
earnest  appeal  produces  no  effect  upon  them,  and 
the  question  naturally  arises  :  "  How,  then,  can 
these  people  be  reached  with  the  Gospel  ?  " 

The  answer  to  that  question  lies  in  a  right  under- 
standing of  the  cause  of  their  indifference,  and  in  an 
adjustment  of  methods  in  work  so  that  there  may  be 
co-operation  with  the  Spirit  in  following  the  Divine 
programme  in  soul-winning. 

One  of  the  greatest  foes  to  modem  evangelism, 
which  has  been  treated  far  too  lightly,  is  described 
in  the  following  passage  :  "  And  even  if  our  gospel 
is  veiled,  it  is  veiled  in  them  that  are  perishing  : 
in  whom  the  God  of  this  age  hath  blinded  the 
thoughts  of  the  unbelieving,  that  the  illumination 
of  the  gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ,  Who  is  the 
image  of  God,  should  not  dawn  upon  them " 
(2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4,  R.v.  with  margin). 

This  passage  scarcely  needs  comment  beyond  a 
slight  reference  to  the  exact  meaning  of  the  word 
"  gospel  "  as  that  word  is  here  used. 

That  body  of  truth  which  Paul  received  as  a  special 
revelation  (Gal.  i.  12),  and  afterwards  called  "  my 
gospel,"  "  the  gospel  of  Christ  "  and  "  the  gospel  of 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT    73 

God  "  (Rom.  ii.  16 ;  Phil.  i.  27 ;  i  Thes.  ii.  2),  is  a  far 
more  limited  theme  than  the  life  story  of  Jesus,  as 
recorded  in  the  Four  Gospels  of  the  New  Testament. 
It  is  rather  the  exact  grounds  of  salvation  by  the 
Cross  of  Christ  and  through  the  grace  of  God.  It  is 
the  whole  revelation  of  the  Divine  propitiation  for 
sin.  While  this  Gospel  had  a  larger  mission  than 
the  Jew  could  anticipate,  in  that  it  was  to  be  a  new 
revelation  from  God,  and  was  to  be  extended  to  the 
Gentiles  also,  it  is  the  Divine  offer  of  all  of  God's 
provisions  for  man's  salvation  in  this  age  ;  and  by  it 
life  and  immortality  were  brought  to  light  (2  Tim. 
i.  10).  It  is  simply  the  offer  of  redemption  and  the 
statement  of  those  conditions  under  grace,  by  which 
a  soul  may  "  turn  from  darkness  unto  light  and  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God  "  (Acts  xxvi.  18)  ; 
and  being  the  point  of  deliverance  "  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God,"  it  is  veiled  by  Satan  and  is 
opposed  by  all  satanic  wisdom  and  strength. 

It  is  clear  from  Scripture  that  the  Gospel  of  the 
substitutionary  sacrifice  of  Christ  is  the  only  possible 
ground  of  salvation  and  escape  from  "  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God."  It  is  therefore  suggestive  that 
Satan  is  imposing  his  blindness  upon  the  unregenerate 
mind  only  at  this  one  point.  The  demons  in  the 
days   of    Christ's    earthly    ministry    bore    faithful 


74  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

testimony  to  His  Deity  as  the  Son  of  God ;  just  so 
Satan  is  now  directly  witnessing  to  the  value  of  the 
only  offers  of  salvation  by  thus  centralizing  all  his 
blinding  power  upon  the  way  of  the  Cross. 

In  addition  to  the  exercise  of  his  own  power  in 
directly  blinding  the  unsaved  to  the  value  of  the 
cross,  Satan  is  increasingly  active,  through  his  min- 
isters, in  attempting  to  expel  this  central  truth  from 
the  Christian  faith.  To  do  this  he  is  now,  as 
predicted,  forcing  great  counterfeit  religious  systems 
and  restatements  of  doctrine  upon  the  world.  It  is 
also  suggestive  that  in  aU  these  the  only  revealed 
basis  of  salvation  is  carefully  omitted. 

The  bUnding  or  veiUng  of  the  mind,  mentioned 
in  2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4,  is  then  a  universal  incapacity  to 
comprehend  the  way  of  salvation,  and  is  imposed 
upon  unregenerate  man  by  the  arch  enemy  of  God 
in  his  attempts  to  hinder  the  purpose  of  God  in 
redemption.  It  is  a  condition  of  mind  against 
which  man  can  have  no  power.  Yet  God  has  provided 
a  means  whereby  this  satanic  veil  may  be  lifted, 
the  eyes  opened  (Acts  xxvi.  18),  the  eyes  of  the 
heart  enlightened  (Eph.  i.  18,  R.v.),  and  the  soul 
come  into  the  illumination  of  the  Gospel  of  the  glory 
of  Christ.  Then,  after  this  "  opening  of  the  eyes  " 
is  accomplished,  the  way  of  hfe,  which  is  the  Gospel, 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     75 

will  seem,  to  the  enlightened  person,  to  be  both 
desirable  and  of  transcendent  import.  This  great 
work  is  accomplished  by  Divine  energy,  and  is  one 
of  the  mightiest  movements  of  the  "  power  of  God 
unto  salvation."  It  is  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  the 
drawing  of  God  and  the  convicting  of  the  Spirit  : 
"No  man  can  come  unto  Me,  except  the  Father 
which  hath  sent  Me  draw  him  "  (John  vi.  44).  "  And 
when  He  (the  Spirit)  is  come.  He  will  convict  the 
world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment  " 
(John  xvi.  8). 

This  individual  and  particular  drawing  and  con- 
victing should  be  distinguished  from  the  universal 
drawing  and  illuminating  of  all  men  that  is  mentioned 
in  other  passages  :  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from 
the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me  "  (John  xii. 
32),  and  "  That  was  the  true  Light  that  Hghteth  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world  "  (or,  "  That  was 
the  true  Light  which  coming  into  the  world,  shineth 
for  every  man  ") — John  i.  9.  The  former  passages 
refer  to  a  special  Divine  work  to  be  accomphshed 
in  each  individual,  and  they  present  the  only 
sufiicient  means  by  which  a  Satan-ruled  soul  (Eph. 
ii.  2)  may  be  inclined  unto  God,  and  by  which, 
Satan-bUnded  eyes  may  receive  a  new  vision  of  the 
Gospel  of  Grace. 


76  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

This  Divine  unveiling  of  the  individual  mind  and 
heart  to  the  Gospel  is  spoken  of  at  length  in  Heb. 
vi.  4-9.  While  this  passage  is  Jewish  in  its  character, 
it  is  an  important  statement  of  a  phase  of  the  truth 
under  present  consideration.  The  passage  is  as 
follows  :  "  For  it  is  impossible  for  those  who  were 
once  enlightened,  and  have  tasted  the  heavenly  gift 
and  were  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
have  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers 
of  the  world  to  come,  if  they  shall  fall  away,  to  renew 
them  again  unto  repentance  ;  seeing  they  crucify 
to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  Him 
to  an  open  shame.  For  the  earth  which  drinketh 
in  the  rain  that  cometh  oft  upon  it,  and  bringeth 
forth  herbs  meet  for  them  by  whom  it  is  dressed, 
receiveth  blessing  from  God  :  but  that  which  beareth 
thorns  and  briars  is  rejected,  and  is  nigh  unto  cursing ; 
whose  end  is  to  be  burned.  But,  beloved,  we  are 
persuaded  better  things  of  you,  and  things  that 
accompany  salvation,  though  we  thus  speak." 

It  would  seem  impossible  that  so  much  could  be 
accomplished  in  any  person  as  is  here  described,  and 
yet  that  person  remain  unsaved,  were  it  not  for  the 
phase  of  truth  which  is  under  consideration  ;  for 
the  passage  states  that  those  described  have  been 
"  once  enhghtened,"  "  have  tasted  of  the  heavenly 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     77 

gift,"  and  have  been  made  "  partakers  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  They  have  "  tasted  the  good  word 
of  God  "  and  the  "  powers  of  the  world  to  come  "  ; 
yet  this  is  all  true  of  unregenerate  persons  who  have 
been  "  drawn  "  and  "  convicted  "  by  Divine  power 
in  preparation  for  salvation. 

When  the  passage  has  been  interpreted  as  being 
a  description  of  regenerate  people,  it  has  been  used 
as  a  proof  text  to  substantiate  that  unscriptural  and 
God-dishonouring  theory  that  a  saved  person  can 
'•  fall  away  "  and  find  it  impossible  to  renew  his 
repentance.  That  the  passage  does  not  describe  a 
true  child  of  God  is  evident,  for  the  description  is 
wholly  inadequate  for  a  Christian.  All  that  is  here 
said  is,  in  a  sense,  true  of  a  believer  ;  but  very 
much  more  is  true  of  him  also.  The  believer  has 
received,  not  "  tasted,"  the  heavenly  gift ;  he  has 
been  "  sealed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,"  which  is  more 
than  to  have  "  partaken  "  of  the  Spirit  in  conviction 
or  illumination.  The  "  tasting  of  the  Word  of 
God  "  is  a  poor  substitute  for  the  behever's  "  washing 
of  regeneration  by  the  Word  "  ;  and  "  tasting  "  of 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come  is  insignificant 
compared  with  the  power  of  God  in  salvation. 

But  again,  it  is  clearly  stated  in  the  closing  verse 
of  this  passage  that  this  is  not  a  description  of  the 


78  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

"  better  things  "  that  "  accompany  salvation."  It 
is  therefore  a  description  of  the  condition  into 
which  a  soul  is  brought  when  Divinely  prepared  for 
an  intelligent  choice  of  Christ  as  Saviour,  This 
condition  is,  to  some  extent,  a  sphere  of  probation 
(which  is  never  the  relation  of  a  true  believer  to 
God)  ;  for,  as  the  hfe-giving  rain  waters  the  earth 
and  causes  it  to  yield  herbs  or  thorns,  so  that  soul 
that  has  been  so  favoured  with  the  vision  of  life 
and  salvation  in  preparation  for  jdelding  to  the 
saving  power  of  Christ,  may  "  bear  thorns  and  briars  " 
by  continually  resisting  the  vision,  and  finally  '*  fall 
away  "  and  find  no  place  for  repentance  ;  seeing  he 
crucified  to  himself  the  Son  of  God  afresh  and  put 
him  to  an  open  shame.  Thus  the  doom  of  such  a 
person  is  said  to  be  final ;  for  he  has  rejected  God's 
best  gift  and  his  only  hope.  There  remains,  there- 
fore, no  more  "  a  place  of  repentance."  He  must 
then  return  to  a  complete  and  hopeless  satanic 
blindness.  "  If  therefore,  the  light  that  is  in  thee 
be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness." 

A  very  similar,  and  equally  important  statement 
of  the  same  truth  is  given  in  Heb.  x.  26-29  •  *'  For 
if  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  a 
sacrifice  for  sins ;  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     79 

of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall 
devour  the  adversaries.  He  that  despised  Moses' 
law  died  without  mercy  under  two  or  three  witnesses  : 
of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye,  shall  he 
be  thought  worthy,  who  has  trodden  underfoot  the 
Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the 
covenant,  wherewith  He  was  sanctified,  an  unholy 
thing,  and  hath  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace  "  ? 

The  importance  of  this  truth  will  warrant  a 
reference  to  three  other  brief  passages.  In  each  of 
these  this  Divine  drawing,  or  calling,  may  be  seen 
in  its  true  place  and  order  among  the  other  aspects  of 
'*  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  In  these 
passages,  this  phase  of  truth  is  mentioned  by  the 
words,  "  to  open  their  eyes,"  "  called  me  by  His 
grace,"  and  "  called." 

"  To  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  dark- 
ness to  Ught,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God, 
that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inherit- 
ance among  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is 
in  me"  (Acts  xxvi.  18).  "But  when  it  pleased 
God,  who  separated  me  from  my  mother's  womb, 
and  called  me  by  His  grace,  to  reveal  His  Son  in 
me,  that  I  might  preach  Him  among  the  heathen  ; 
immediately  I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and 
blood  "  (Gal.  i.  15,  16).     **  Moreover,  whom  He  did 


8o  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

predestinate,  them  He  also  called :  and  whom 
He  called,  them  He  also  justified ;  and  whom  He 
justified,  them  He  also  glorified  "  (Rom.  viii.  30). 

Other  passages  which  emphasize  the  necessary 
illumination  of  the  Spirit  should  also  be  quoted  : 
"  No  man  can  come  unto  Me,  except  the  Father 
which  hath  sent  Me  draw  him  ;  and  I  will  raise 
him  up  at  the  last  day.  It  is  written  in  the  prophets. 
And  they  shall  be  all  taught  of  God.  Every  man 
therefore  that  hath  heard,  and  hath  learned  of  the 
Father,  cometh  unto  Me  "  (John  vi.  44, 45).  "  MTiere- 
fore  I  give  you  to  understand,  that  no  man  speaking 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  calleth  Jesus  accursed  ;  and 
that  no  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  Lord,  but  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  "  (i  Cor.  xii.  3).  "  Jesus  said  unto  them  : 
But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  And  Simon  Peter 
answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
him.  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona  :  for  flesh 
and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  My 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  "  (Matt.  xvi.  15-17). 

This  special  aspect  of  the  Divine  work,  which  has 
been  seen  in  these  passages  already  quoted,  is  more 
particularly  dwelt  upon  in  John  xvi.  8-1 1.  The 
whole  context  of  this  passage  (xvi.  8-15)  announces, 
in  addition  to  the  three-fold  work  of  the  Spirit  for 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     8i 

the  unsaved,  or  "  world,"  a  special  instructive  and 
illuminative  work  of  the  Spirit  for  the  saved,  here 
addressed  as  "  you."  As  these  two  classes  have 
had  to  be  distinguished  in  connection  with  a  pre- 
viously quoted  Scripture,  their  difference  should  be 
noted  here  also.  In  this  connection  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  saved  are  to  be  led  into  "  all  truth  "  ;  while 
the  unsaved  are  to  be  instructed  along  but  one 
particular  line.  To  the  saved  the  *'  all  things  "  of 
Christ  and  of  God  are  to  be  shown  ;  while  the  unsaved 
are  to  see  only  that  which  first  concerns  them,  which 
is  the  way  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus.  This  passage 
referring  to  the  work  of  the  Spirit  for  the  unsaved  is 
as  follows  :  "  Nevertheless  I  tell  you  the  truth  ; 
it  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away  :  for  if  I  go  not 
away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you ;  but 
if  I  depart,  I  will  send  Him  unto  you.  And  when  He 
is  come,  He  will  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment :  of  sin,  because 
they  believe  not  on  Me  ;  of  righteousness,  because 
I  go  to  My  Father,  and  ye  see  Me  no  more  ;  of 
judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world  is 
judged." 

In  considering  this  passage  it  may  first  be  noted 
that  the  word  "  reprove  "  (r.v.  "  convict  ")  is  not 
limited,  as  is  usually  supposed,  to  the  first  word 


82  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

**  sin,"  but  applies  to  the  words  "  righteousness  ** 
and  "  judgment  "  as  well.  This  suggests  a  much 
larger  meaning  to  the  word  than  an  acute  mental 
agony  for  sin,  though  that  may  be  included.  These 
three  words,  it  will  be  seen,  state  three  aspects  of 
the  work  of  reproving,  and  are  never  separated  in 
the  work  of  the  Spirit. 

A  careful  study  of,  in  all,  about  sixteen  passages 
where  the  original  of  the  word  "  reprove  "  is  used, 
will  reveal  that  it  is  usually  descriptive  of  a  condition 
of  mind  resulting  from  the  impartation  of  truth ; 
and  so  this  convicting  work  of  the  Spirit  for  the 
world  is  identical  with  the  enlightenment  by  the 
Spirit  already  considered. 

Much  depends  at  this  point  upon  an  adequate 
understanding  of  the  whole  scope  of  the  action  of 
the  Spirit  as  suggested  by  the  three  words,  "  sin," 
"  righteousness  "  and  "  judgment." 

"  Of  Sin,  because  they  beUeve  not  on  Me." 
"  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  thee.  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  "  (John  iii.  3). 
"  But  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  :  for  they  are  fooHshness  unto 
him ;  neither  can  He  know  them,  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned  "  (i  Cor.  ii.  14). 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     83 

It  is  just  this  incapacity  and  blindness  of  the 
unregenerate  mind  which  is  stated  in  these  passages 
that  demands  the  illuminating  work  of  the  Spirit 
in  "  convincing  of  sin."  It  is  evident  from  the  words 
**  because  they  beheve  not  on  Me  "  that  they  do  not 
comprehend  the  way  of  hfe  in  Christ  Jesus,  nor  has 
the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ  dawned 
on  them. 

The  Gospel  demands  a  special  revelation  for  its 
understanding  ;  since  it  announces  a  perfect  freedom 
to  all  humanity  from  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  also 
presents  the  corresponding  fact  that  there  can  be 
but  one  reason  for  condemnation  ;  and  that,  the 
rejection  of  the  Saviour,  Who  bore  the  sin.  Man's 
relation  to  God  on  the  question  of  sin,  in  the  Hght 
of  the  Cross,  is  so  unnatural  to  the  unregenerate 
mind,  and  is  so  much  the  object  of  satanic  blinding 
that  there  can  be  no  understanding  of  this  truth 
apart  from  a  direct  and  personal  illumination  by 
the  Spirit. 

The  work  of  the  Spirit,  then,  is  to  distinctly 
reveal  the  cure  of  sin  as  already  accomplished,  and 
to  warn  against  the  only  remaining  possible  con- 
demnation that  must  follow  the  rejection  of  the 
Cross.  Though  the  imsaved  and  "  natural  man  " 
may  be  educated,  gentle,  refined,  or  gifted,  he  has 


84  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

no  vision  of  salvation,  and  thus  it  is  obvious  that 
there  can  be  no  adequate  conception  of  the  one 
condemning  sin  of  rejecting  Christ  as  Saviour,  until 
the  Christ  and  His  saving  work  as  sin-bearer  are 
made  real.  This  the  Spirit  accomplishes  by  con- 
vincing of  righteousness  and  judgment ;  for  both 
the  conviction  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment  are 
but  revelations  of  the  Christ  and  His  salvation. 

"  Of  Righteousness,  because  I  go  to  My  Father 
and  ye  see  Me  no  more."  "  But  ye  denied  the 
Holy  One  and  the  Just,  and  desired  a  murderer  to  be 
granted  unto  you  ;  and  killed  the  Prince  of  life, 
Whom  God  hath  raised  from  the  dead ;  whereof 
we  are  witnesses  "  (Acts  iii.  14,  15).  "  Who  was 
delivered  for  our  offences,  and  was  raised  again  for 
our  justification  "  (Rom.  iv.  25). 

In  the  vision  of  the  Righteous  One  Who  died 
upon  the  Cross  it  will  be  revealed  to  the  unsaved  by 
the  Spirit  that  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconcihng  the 
world  imto  Himself,"  and  that  He,  the  Righteous 
One,  bore  the  curse  of  the  sinner's  unrighteousness 
"  in  His  own  body  on  the  tree."  That  it  was  the 
Righteous  One  Who  died  is  for  ever  assured  by  His 
resurrection  and  present  place  in  glory.  This  is 
the  all-important  vision  ;  for  the  Righteous  One 
upon  the  Cross  is  the  sinner's  only  point  of  contact 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     85 

with  the  saving  power  of  God.  So,  also,  as  the 
ground  of  salvation  is  revealed,  by  the  conviction  of 
the  Spirit  to  be  the  death  of  the  Righteous  One, 
so  the  enjo5mient  of  all  present  blessing  in  fellowship 
and  security  must  depend  upon  as  direct  and  per- 
sonal a  revelation,  by  the  Spirit  of  the  present 
living  Christ. 

Hence,  in  convincing  of  righteousness,  the  vision 
is  created  in  the  unregenerate  mind  of  the  Righteous 
One  Who  died  on  the  Cross  as  a  personal  Saviour, 
Who  is  now  raised  from  the  dead,  and  seated  in 
glory  with  all  His  atoning  work  accepted  before  God, 
and  Who  is  able  to  "  guard  that  which  is  committed 
unto  Him  against  that  day." 

On  the  Cross  Christ  judged  all  sin  and  secured  a 
perfect  salvation  for  all  who  believe.  So  in  heaven 
He  saves  those  who  have  believed  from  every 
challenge  of  a  broken  law. 

"  Of  Judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world 
is  judged."  "  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world  : 
now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out " 
(John  xii.  31).  "  And  you,  being  dead  in  your  sins 
and  the  uncircumcision  of  your  flesh,  hath  He 
quickened  together  with  Him,  having  forgiven  you 
all  trespasses  ;  blotting  out  the  handwritings  of 
ordinances  that  was  against  us,  which  was  contrary 


86  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

to  us,  and  took  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  His 
Cross  ;  and  having  spoiled  principalities  and  powers 
he  made  a  show  of  them  openly,  triumphing  over 
them  in  it  "  (Col.  ii.  13-15). 

In  convicting  of  judgment,  the  Spirit  reveals  to  the 
unregenerate  mind  that,  through  a  judgment  now 
past,  the  power  and  domination  of  Satan  has  been 
broken  for  every  man  ;  and  with  this  "  spoiling  of 
principalities  and  powers,"  all  the  handwritings  and 
ordinances  that  were  against  us,  that  were  contrary 
to  us,  have  been  taken  out  of  the  way  and  nailed  to 
the  Cross. 

The  claim  which  Satan  held  upon  man,  before  the 
Cross,  was  the  very  fact  of  man's  sin  and  unlikeness 
to  God.  That  claim  was  wholly  broken  by  the  Cross, 
and  the  curse  of  sin  was  lifted  for  all.  Since  the 
Cross  it  has  been  Satan's  one  advantage  to  bHnd  those 
in  his  power  as  to  the  fact  of  the  imiversal  atonement 
for  sin,  and  to  secure  an  attitude  of  misunderstanding 
and  rejection  of  this  atonement  that  will  keep  man 
under  the  last  and  only  condemnation  :  "  that  they 
believe  not  on  Me." 

Thus  aU  "  principalities  and  powers "  were 
"  spoiled  "  and  "  triiunphed  over  "  in  the  Divine 
judgment  of  sin.  Now  the  way  of  redemption  is 
open  to  all  who  will  come  by  the  Cross.     But  it  is 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT    Sy 

this  very  value  of  the  death  of  Christ  that  is  the 
object  of  Satan's  blinding,  and  the  Spirit  alone  can 
unveil  the  blinded  unregenerate  mind.  This  He 
does  by  convincing  of  the  judgment  of  the  Cross. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  the 
phase  of  the  Gospel  which  Satan  has  veiled  from 
"  those  that  are  perishing  "  is  the  way  of  life  through 
the  death  of  Christ,  and  that  it  is  the  same  central 
truth  which  the  Spirit  would  make  real  to  "  those 
that  are  perishing,"  by  convincing  them  "  of  sin, 
of  righteousness  and  of  judgment." 

It  is  not  claimed  in  this  connection  that  an 
unsaved  person  must  come  to  know  every  phase  of 
truth  about  the  atonement  of  Christ  before  he  is 
Divinely  prepared  for  salvation  ;  but  it  is  claimed 
that  the  Spirit  proposes  to  make  the  meaning  of  the 
Cross  sufficiently  clear  to  that  person  to  enable  him 
to  abandon  all  hope  of  self-works,  and  to  turn  to  the 
finished  work  of  Christ  alone  in  inteUigent  saving 
faith.  The  vision  of  redemptive  truth  was  revealed 
to  Paul  directly  from  God,  and  there  is  a  very  real 
sense  in  which  that  truth  must  be  directly  revealed 
to  every  individual,  that  he  may  himself  choose  it 
as  the  only  basis  of  his  hope.  The  atoning  sacrificial 
death  of  Christ  as  a  distinct  and  sufficient  founda- 
tion for  salvation  must  become  a  reality  before  it 


88  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

can  become  a  finality  in  saving  faith.  And  in 
convincing  the  world  of  sin,  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment  that  truth  is  made  real  by  the  Spirit. 

What  human  argument  or  influence  can  convince 
Satan-blinded  minds  that  to  fail  to  beheve  on  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  all-condemning  sin  ?  Surely  that  sin 
will  not  be  seen  in  all  its  magnitude  until  the  mind 
has  been  enlightened  in  regard  to  the  Person  of  Christ 
and  His  atoning  work.  Thus  only  by  the  Spirit 
can  any  conception  be  had  of  all  that  is  being 
rejected  when  they  "  believe  not  on  Me." 

It  is  quite  clear,  then,  that  the  sin  of  rejecting 
Christ  is  committed,  in  its  most  terrible  form,  by 
those  who  have  a  special  vision,  or  realization,  of 
Christ  and  His  salvation.  It  is  after  having  seen 
the  Divinely  wrought  vision  that  the  soul  may 
**  draw  back  unto  perdition." 

No  understanding  of  the  illuminating  work  of  the 
Spirit  on  the  minds  of  the  unsaved  wiU  be  complete 
until  the  important  agency  or  means  used  by  the 
Spirit  in  that  work  is  recognized. 

"  The  Word  of  God,  which  is  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit."  Another  sharp  distinction  must  be  made 
at  this  point,  as  in  the  enlightening  and  teaching 
work  of  the  Spirit,  between  the  whole  Divine  work 
for  the  saved  and  that  small  part  of  the  same  work 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     89 

that  may  be  done  for  the  unsaved  as  a  preparation 
for  salvation.  The  riches  of  the  work  for  the  saved 
can  only  be  suggested  here. 

To  the  saved  the  Word  of  God  is  a  cleansing, 
sanctifying  and  reflecting  power  (John  xiii.  10,  11  ; 
XV.  3  ;  Eph.  V.  25,  26  ;  John  xvii.  17  ;  and  2  Cor. 
iii.  18). 

To  the  unsaved,  the  Word  of  God  is  the  "  sword 
of  the  Spirit  "  (Eph.  vi.  17). 

As  has  been  seen,  the  convicting  work  of  the  Spirit 
involves  a  radical  change  in  the  deepest  part  of 
man's  being,  where  his  motives  and  desires  are 
first  formed ;  so  that  both  an  entirely  new  concep- 
tion of  the  God-provided  grounds  of  redemption 
and  a  vision  of  the  glorious  Person  of  Christ  are 
created.  As  both  the  Person  and  the  work  of  Christ 
are  presented  in  the  Scriptures,  it  is  only  necessary 
for  the  Spirit  to  vitalize  His  own  Word,  either 
upon  the  printed  page,  or  through  the  lips  of  His 
messenger,  to  bring  a  new  light  and  possibility  into 
the  hitherto  blinded  mind.  It  is,  therefore,  said  of 
the  Word  of  God  :  "  For  the  word  of  God  is  quick, 
and  powerful  (Uving  and  active,  R.v.),  and  sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the 
dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  joints  and 
marrow,  and  is  a  discemer  of  the  thoughts  and 


90  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

intents  of  the  heart  "  (Heb.  iv.  12).  The  Word 
itself  is  however  but  the  sword,  and  must  be 
wielded  by  the  Spirit  to  be  effective. 

The  fact  that  the  Word  of  God,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Spirit,  is  living  and  operative  is  the  only  warrant 
for  any  appeal  to  the  unsaved  ;  and  is  a  warning 
as  well  that  the  message,  to  be  effective,  must  be  in 
accord  with  the  whole  truth  of  God,  that  it  may  be 
used  by  the  Spirit.  It  is  a  conspicuous  fact  that 
every  successful  soul-winner  has  been  a  fearless 
defender  of  every  essential  doctrine  of  the 
Scriptures. 

The  skill  of  the  evangelist  or  the  pastor  who  would 
do  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  is  seen  in  the  ability 
to  present  the  limited  body  of  redemptive  truth 
repeatedly,  yet  with  freshness  and  variety. 

The  evangelist  is  limited  to  that  evangel  which 
unfolds  the  cure  of  sin  and  the  way  of  life  by  the 
substitutionary  death  of  the  Cross,  since  that  is 
the  only  message  which  the  Spirit  can  use,  as  His 
Sword  in  unveiling  those  eyes  which  are  blinded 
to  that  particular  truth.  How  helpless,  then,  in 
true  soul-saving  co-operation  with  God,  is  that 
person  who  has  a  heart  of  unbelief  toward  the  blood 
of  the  Cross,  or  whose  message  has  been  beguiled  away 
from  the  way  of  hfe  by  Christ  Jesus,  to  an  appeal  for 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     91 

morality,  or  religious  ceremonials,  which  are  the 
result  of  human  energy  and  expediencies  ! 

Jesus  has  commanded  His  own  that  are  in  the 
world  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  redemptive  truth  to 
every  creature  :  yet  their  preaching  is  of  no  avail, 
save  as  it  is  accompanied  with  the  convincing  and 
illuminating  work  of  the  Spirit,  and  this  work  of  the 
Spirit  is  dependent  upon  a  ministry  of  the  believer 
that  is  more  important  than  preaching.  This  is  the 
prayer  of  intercession. 

Thus  it  may  be  concluded  on  the  question  of  the 
use  of  the  Word  in  true  evangelism  that  it  is  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  to  present  the  sacrificial  judgment 
of  the  Cross  and  the  living  glorious  Person  of  Christ 
to  the  unsaved  through  the  preaching  of  the  Word. 
And  where  an  individual  would  evade  either  the 
message  of  the  Cross,  or  the  essential  Deity  of 
Christ,  there  has  been,  and  can  be,  no  co-operation 
of  the  Spirit  in  convincing  power,  though  every 
element  of  literary  merit  and  human  eloquence  may 
be  suppUed. 

It  is  not  a  mere  arbitrary  caprice  with  God  that 
there  must  be  an  intelligent  appropriation  of  the 
work  of  Christ  as  the  grounds  of  redemption  :  "  For 
there  is  none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved  "  (Acts  iv.  12).     On 


92  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

no  other  grounds  can  the  mercy  and  grace  of  God  be 
exercised  in  righteousness  and  justice.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  the  grounds  of  redemption  must  be 
sufficiently  clear  to  each  individual  to  elicit  a  repose 
of  faith,  and  a  willing  deposit  of  all  eternal  interests 
into  the  saving  power  of  Christ.  No  human  argu- 
ment or  teaching  can  dispel  the  satanic  darkness 
that  hinders  saving  faith,  or  create  the  new  vision 
that  is  required.  It  is  quite  possible  for  a  blinded 
soul  to  be  religious,  or  even  to  pose  as  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel ;  yet,  having  never  comprehended  the 
way  of  life,  to  be  "  tossed  to  and  fro  by  every  wind 
of  doctrine,"  and,  though  sincere,  and  possessing 
every  other  degree  of  human  knowledge,  to  be  in  his 
blindness  no  more  than  the  minister  of  Satan 
(2  Cor.  xi.  13-15)- 

The  wide  difference  of  appreciation  of  the  Gospel 
that  exists  between  people  of  equal  mental  attain- 
ments cannot  be  explained  on  the  grounds  of  per- 
sonal temperament  or  training,  else  their  various 
attitudes  would  be  more  or  less  permanent,  when 
in  reality  the  attitude  of  indifference  is  often  sud- 
denly changed  to  a  glowing  fire.  It  need  hardly  be 
pointed  out  that  unsaved  men  do  not  weigh  the 
evidence  of  testimony  and  fact  as  accurately  in 
matters  relating  to  salvation  as  they  do  in  any  other 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     93 

sphere  of  investigation.  In  matters  between  men 
in  the  world  the  sworn  testimony  of  two  reliable 
witnesses  demands  a  corresponding  conclusion ; 
yet  the  obvious  fact  of  regeneration  and  the  willing 
testimony  of  multitudes,  "  whereas  I  was  blind,  now 
I  see,"  creates  no  impression  on  others  who  are  yet 
in  their  blindness. 

There  is  a  reality  in  satanic  blindness.  But,  blessed 
be  God,  there  is  a  reality  in  Divine  illumination  I 

It  should  be  observed  that,  apart  from  Divine 
power,  superficial  decisions  can  easily  be  secured, 
and  apparently  great  results  accomplished ;  for 
some  minds  are  so  dependent  upon  the  opinions  of 
others  that  the  earnest  dominating  appeal  of  the 
evangelist,  with  the  obvious  value  of  a  religious  life, 
are  sufficient  to  move  them  to  follow  almost  any  plan 
that  is  made  to  appear  to  be  expedient.  They  may 
be  urged  to  act  on  the  vision  of  the  way  of  life 
which  the  evangelist  possesses,  when  they  have 
received  no  sufficient  vision  for  themselves.  The 
experience  of  thousands  of  churches  has  proved  that 
such  decisions  have  not  met  the  conditions  of  grace 
in  "  believing  with  the  heart  "  ;  for  the  multitude 
of  advertised  converts  have  often  failed,  and  these 
churches  have  had  to  face  the  problem  of  dealing 
with  a  class  of  disinterested  people  who  possess  no 


94  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

new  dynamic,  nor  any  of  the  blessings  of  the  truly 
regenerate  life. 

It  is  possible  to  reverently  repeat  the  most  pious 
phrases  and  assume  devotional  attitudes  and  yet 
have  the  inner  hfe  in  no  way  correspondingly 
moved.  All  such  exercise,  though  producing  appa- 
rent results,  is  of  no  avail  in  real  salvation  ;  for  the 
Spirit  has  not  wrought  in  such  a  mind  to  the  end  that 
the  utterance  of  those  words  become  the  expression 
of  the  greatest  crisis  of  the  inner  hfe,  and  the  only 
adequate  rehef  for  that  soul's  sense  of  utter  helpless- 
ness and  burning  thirst  for  the  water  of  Ufe. 

A  few  genuine  decisions  may  occur  among  the 
many,  and  these  have  always  justified  the  wholesale 
evangelizing  method.  There  is,  however,  a  very 
grave  harm  done  to  those  who  are  thus  superficially 
effected,  and  this  harm  may  sometimes  outweigh 
the  good  that  is  done.  In  reply  to  this  it  is  argued 
that  nothing  can  outweigh  the  value  of  one  soul  that 
is  saved ;  yet  when  the  harm  of  a  false  decision  is 
analysed,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  after-state  of 
bewilderment  and  discouragement  which  results  in 
an  attitude  that  is  almost  unapproachable  and  hope- 
less, has  its  unmeasured  results  as  well. 

The  Gospel  will  always  prove,  in  this  age,  **  a 
savour  of  death  unto  death  "  as  well  as  of  "  life 


THE  CONVICTING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     95 

unto  life  "  ;  for  some,  even  upon  whom  the  Spirit 
has  wrought  in  conviction,  will  reject  the  way  of 
life.  But  there  is  no  expectation  in  the  evangeUsm 
of  Scripture,  that  souls  are  to  be  hurried  into  unreali- 
ties and  be  misguided  in  their  blindness.  God  has 
faithfully  provided  the  one  all-sufficient  preparation 
for  a  full  and  inteUigent  decision  in  the  ministry 
of  the  Spirit  who  came  to  convict  the  world  of  sin, 
of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment. 

The  examples  of  soul-wiiming  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment present  a  conspicuous  contrast  to  the  usual 
evangelism  of  to-day.  Then  there  seemed  to  be  no 
urging  or  coaxing,  nor  was  any  person  dealt  with 
individually  who  had  not  first  given  evidence  of  a 
Divinely-wrought  sense  of  need.  It  is  recorded  that 
Peter  directed  the  converts  at  Pentecost  in  the  way 
of  life  after  they  were  "  pricked  in  their  hearts,  and 
said  unto  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?  "  So  also  there  is  no 
record  that  Paul  and  Silas  made  themselves  obnoxious 
to  the  Philippian  jailor  by  urging  him  to  become  a 
Christian  before  he  had  any  such  desire  ;  but  rather, 
after  a  great  change  had  taken  place  in  his  whole  atti- 
tude which  compelled  him  to  fall  tremblingly  before 
them  and  say  :  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  " 
did  they  personally  direct  him  to ' '  believe  on  the  Lord 


96  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

Jesus  Christ."  Peter  does  not  send  for  Cornelius : 
Cornelius  reaches  out  for  Peter.  And  Saul  is  led  into 
the  light  almost  without  human  aid  or  direction. 

In  view  of  this  all-important  Divine  preparation 
for  salvation,  it  is  clear  that  all  evangelism,  be  it 
public  ministry  or  personal  work,  which  does  not 
wait  for  the  movings  of  the  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of 
the  unsaved  is  insomuch  removed  from  true 
co-operation  with  God,  and  is  in  danger  of  hindering 
more  souls  than  it  blesses. 

Such  a  waiting  on  God  and  for  God  as  is  necessary 
for  true  co-operation  with  the  Spirit,  although  it 
may  shatter  the  evangelist's  claim  to  large  numbers 
of  converts,  will  tend  to  wean  the  church  away  from 
her  dependence  upon  spasmodic  periods  of  concern 
for  the  lost  into  a  true  and  more  constant  attitude 
of  fruit-bearing. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  us  with  examples  of  true 
evangelism,  the  results  of  which  were  reported  many 
centuries  ago  when  it  was  said  :  "  And  the  Lord 
added  to  the  church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved  " 
(Acts  ii.  47).  This  blessed  condition  will  always 
1  result  when  believers  depend  upon  the  Lord  to  add 
!  to  the  church  and  they  "  continue  steadfastly  in 
the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship  and  in  breaking 
of  bread  and  in  prayers  "  (Acts  ii.  42). 


THE 
PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE   PRAYER  OF   INTERCESSION 

IN  this  attempt  to  consider  the  successive 
*  aspects  of  the  movements  of  the  "  power  of 
God  unto  salvation,"  it  has  already  been  seen  that 
true  evangelism  must  face  the  humanly  impossible 
task  of  lifting  the  satanic  veil  that  rests  upon  all 
unregenerate  minds  in  connection  with  the  one 
subjt;':t  of  "  the  Gospel."  This  blinding  of  Satan 
having  been  imposed  at  this  one  point  for  the 
sufficient  reason  that  "  the  Gospel  "  is  the  revelation 
of  the  only  way  of  escape  for  sinful  man  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God — by  this  blindness  both 
the  "  good  news  "  of  the  finished  work  upon  the  Cross 
and  the  glory  of  the  living  Christ,  in  His  present 
position  as  Intercessor  and  Advocate,  have  been 
obscured.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  seen  that 
there  is  a  Divinely  provided  illumination  by  the 
Spirit  which  causes  the  same  "  good  news  "  of  the 
finished  work  and  the  present  glory  of  Christ  to 
become  a  reality  to  the  hitherto  bUnded  mind. 

99 


100  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

The  unveiling  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Spirit  is 
necessary  and  reasonable.  For  the  conditions  of 
saving  faith  are  no  less  than  a  deposit  of  the  whole 
being  into  the  saving  power  of  Christ ;  and,  while 
superficial  decisions  may  be  secured  through  mere 
human  influence  and  power,  there  will  be  no  complete 
repose  of  faith  until  the  way  is  made  plain  by  the 
enlightenment  of  the  Spirit. 

It  is  true  that  no  man  can  know  the  Father,  in 
soul  rest,  save  the  Son,  and  He  to  whomsoever  the  Son 
will  reveal  Him  (Matt.  xi.  27,  28).  This  is  the  basis 
of  all  fellowship  with  God.  It  is  equally  true  of  the 
unsaved  that  no  man  can  come  to  Christ  as  Saviour 
except  the  Father  draw  him  (John  vi.  44).  Again, 
"It  is  written  in  the  prophets,  And  they  shall  all 
be  taught  of  God.  Every  man  therefore  that  hath 
heard,  and  hath  learned  of  the  Father,  cometh  unto 
me  "  (John  vi.  45). 

In  view  of  the  appalling  absence  of  personal  con- 
cern on  the  part  of  the  multitude  of  unsaved,  in 
spite  of  the  ever-increasing  ministry  of  preaching 
and  exhortation,  every  serious  soul-winner  will, 
sooner  or  later,  raise  the  question  :  "  What,  then, 
hinders  the  Spirit  from  performing  His  office  work  of 
convincing  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and 
of  judgment  "  ?     The  answer  to  this  central  question 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     loi 

in  modern  evangelism  is  found  in  that  subject  which 
is  the  next  step  in  the  successive  aspects  of  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation,  as  they  are  here  being  con- 
sidered in  their  reverse  order.  That  subject  is  the 
Prayer  of  Intercession. 

There  are  but  three  possible  ways  in  which  the 
believer  can  fulfil  the  God-appointed  human  part 
in  seeking  the  lost.  These  are  :  prayer,  personal 
effort  or  influence,  and  giving.  Both  the  first 
and  the  last  are  world-wide  in  their  scope,  whUe  the 
other  is  limited  to  the  locality  and  opportunity  of 
the  individual.  There  can  never  be  a  question  as 
to  the  relative  value  of  these  various  lines  of  service, 
for  the  ministry  of  prayer  is  continually  open  to  every 
believer,  and  is  only  Hmited  in  its  possibilities  by 
the  feeble  faith  of  man.  There  is  much  in  Scripture 
that  emphasizes  the  importance  of  preaching  the 
Word  as  a  means  unto  salvation,  and  this  ministry 
has  sometimes  been  thought  to  be  the  greatest  human 
service  in  evangelism  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  there 
must  be  more  than  the  human  statement  of  the 
truth.  The  Spirit  must  wield  His  mighty  Sword 
and  that  work  of  the  Spirit,  to  a  large  extent,  is 
subject  to  beheving  prayer. 

A  Christian,  as  has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous 
chapter,  is,  from  the  moment  of  his  salvation,  con- 


I02  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

stituted  a  Royal  Priest  unto  God.  The  meaning 
and  scope  of  his  position  can  be  better  understood 
by  referring  to  the  Aaronic  Priesthood  under  the 
law,  for  the  Old  Testament  priesthood  is  a  type  of 
the  royal  priesthood  under  grace. 

That  there  is  a  royal  priesthood  under  grace 
is  revealed  in  the  following  Scriptures  :  "  But  ye  are 
a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  an  holy 
nation,  a  peculiar  people  ;  that  ye  should  shew 
forth  the  praises  (virtues)  of  Him  Who  hath  called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light  " 
(i  Pet.  ii.  9).  "Ye  also,  as  lively  stones,  are  built 
up  a  spiritual  house,  an  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ  "  (i  Pet.  ii.  5).  "  And  he  made  us  to  be  kings 
and  priests  unto  God  and  His  Father ;  to  Him  be 
glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever  "  (Rev.  i.  6). 
"  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmities  :  for 
we  know  not  what  we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought : 
but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered.  And  He  that 
searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit,  because  He  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints 
according  to  the  will  of  God  "  (Rom.  viii.  26,  27). 

The  essential  truth  concerning  the  priesthood  under 
grace  is  suggested  in  these  passages.  Here  it  is  seen  as 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     103 

composed  of  the  members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  which 
is  His  church.  A  "  chosen  generation  "  speaks  of 
their  position  by  the  new  birth  ;  a  **  royal  priest- 
hood "  and  "  kings  and  priests  "  of  their  office  ; 
a  "  holy  nation  "  and  a  "  holy  priesthood  "  of  their 
necessary  cleansing  ;  and  a  "  pecuhar  people  "  of 
their  essential  heavenly  character,  as  distinguished 
from  the  people  of  the  world.  So  again,  "  Uvely 
stones "  speaks  of  their  individual  responsibiUty 
and  service  ;  "  offer  spiritual  sacrifices  "  and  the 
**  intercession  by  the  Spirit  "  speak  of  their  min- 
istry ;  while  the  words  "  acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus 
Christ  "  speak  of  the  rent  veil,  their  access  to  God, 
and  of  their  "  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living  way,  which 
He  hath  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  veil,  that 
is  to  say.  His  flesh  "  (Heb.  x.  19,  20). 

Returning  to  these  important  teachings  to  consider 
them  in  the  same  order,  and  more  at  length,  it  will 
be  seen : 

LA"  Chosen  Generation.* 

Like  the  Aaronic  priest  under  the  law,  the  New 
Testament  priest  is  bom  to  his  position.  He  is 
constituted  a  priest  unto  God  as  a  part  of  the  salva- 
tion that  is  in  Jesus  Christ.     His  position  and  his 


104  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

privileges,  therefore,  begin  with  his  new  birth  into 
the  nature  and  family  of  God.  It  is  most  important 
to  emphasize  the  truth  that  every  believer  is  a  priest 
unto  God,  though  he  may  never  intelligently  exercise 
his  glorious  privilege.  The  full  realization  of  this 
position,  so  far  as  it  affects  prayer,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  needs  among  believers  to-day.  It  is  more 
than  a  belief  in  the  general  efficacy  of  prayer.  It 
is  to  be  able  to  say  "  I  know  God  will  do  His  greatest 
works  solely  in  answer  to  my  prayer." 

//.  A  "  Royal  Priesthood  "  and  "  Kings  and  Priests." 
The  New  Testament  priesthood  is  an  office.  This 
is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  believer's  gifts  for 
service.  The  contrast  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
those  things  which  constitute  the  ministry  of  the 
priest  are  the  privilege  and  duty  of  aJl  believers 
alike  :  while  the  gifts  for  service  are  bestowed  by  the 
Spirit  "  as  He  will "  (Rom.  xii.  3-8  ;  i  Cor.  xii.  4-11). 
Not  all  beUevers  have  the  same  gift  for  service  :  but 
all  are  privileged  to  minister  in  the  priestly  office. 
Not  all  have  the  gift  of  teaching,  or  of  healing ; 
but  all  have  access  in  prayer. 

///.  A  "  Holy  Nation  "  anda"  Holy  Priesthood." 

The  importance  of  cleansing  for  the  exercise  of 
the  priestly  office  under  grace  is  seen  through  the 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     105 

words  "  a  holy  priesthood."  It  is  seen  both  as  it  is 
foreshadowed  in  the  demands  for  laving  and  purifica- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  priest,  and  in  the  fact  that 
the  ministry  of  the  New  Testament  priest  is  also 
in  the  holiest  place,  and  is  directed  unto  God.  In 
that  holy  place  the  least  taint  of  sin  or  defilement 
cannot  be  allowed,  though  a  degree  of  unfitness 
might  not  hinder  the  exercise  of  gifts  where  the 
service  is  only  to  men. 

IV.  A  "  Peculiar  People:* 

No  greater  evidence  of  the  mighty  transformation 
that  is  wrought  by  salvation  can  be  found  than  the 
fact  that  the  privilege  is  granted  to  him  who  is 
saved  of  entering  the  holiest  place  where  Christ  is 
already  entered  in,  and  is  there  making  intercession 
for  His  own  who  are  in  the  world.  Only  those  who 
have  partaken  of  the  Divine  nature  by  regeneration 
and  have  come,  by  grace,  to  be  heavenly  in  being 
and  destiny  could  be  so  favoured. 

V.  "  Lively  Stones" 

As  the  ministry  of  gifts  in  the  church  is  individual, 
even  world-wide  evangelism  being  committed  to 
each  believer,  rather  than  to  the  church  as  a  body, 
so  there  is  no  present  service  for  the  New  Testament 


io6  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

priests  as  a  whole  ;    but  their  service  is  individual, 
as  their  cleansing  and  fitness  must  be. 

VI.  To  "  Offer  Spiritual  Sacrifices  "  and  the  "  Inter- 
cession by  the  Spirit." 

The  Old  Testament  priest  was  sanctified  and 
cleansed  that  he  might  offer  sacrifices  and  enter  the 
"  Holy  of  holies  "  to  intercede  for  others  ;  so  the  New 
Testament  priest  is  appointed  to  offer  sacrifices  in 
three  particulars  :  (a)  His  own  body  :  "I  beseech 
you,  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God, 
that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy, 
acceptable  to  God,  which  is  your  spiritual  worship  " 
(Rom.  xii.  i,  R.v.,  with  margin.  See  also  Phil, 
ii,  17  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  6  ;  James  i.  27).  (b)  His  wor- 
ship :  "By  Him  therefore  let  us  offer  the  sacrifice  of 
praise  to  God  continually,  that  is,  the  fruit  of  our 
lips  giving  thanks  to  His  name  "  (Heb.  xiii.  15). 
(c)  His  substance  :  "  But  to  do  good  and  to 
communicate  forget  not :  for  with  such  sacrifice 
God  is  well  pleased "  (Heb.  xiii.  16)  ;  "  But  I 
have  all  and  abound  :  I  am  full,  having  received  of 
Epaphroditus  the  things  which  were  sent  from  you, 
an  odour  of  a  sweet  smeU,  a  sacrifice  acceptable, 
well  pleasing  to  God  "  (Phil.  iv.  18). 

The  New  Testament  priest  is  also  an  intercessor, 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     107 

which,  as  the  word  implies,  differs  from  a  suppHcator 
who  may  pray  wholly  for  himself.  The  inter- 
cessor bears  the  burden  and  need  of  otliers  before 
God,  and  intercedes  in  their  behalf.  No  human 
wisdom  is  sufficient  for  this  ministry  in  the  holiest 
place  ;  for  "  we  know  not  what  to  pray  for  as  we 
ought  "  ;  but  God  has  anticipated  our  inability 
and  provided  the  energizing  Spirit  Who  "  maketh 
intercession  for  us,"  and  "  according  to  the  will  of 
God  "  (Rom.  viii.  26,  27). 

VII.  '•  Acceptable  unto  God  by  Jesus  Christ." 

How  much  is  required  in  those  searching  words, 
"  acceptable  to  God  "  !  Yet  how  perfect  is  the 
believer's  fitting  '*  by  Jesus  Christ  "  !  Only  some 
personal  defilement  uncleansed,  or  sin  unconfessed 
can  hinder  the  exercise  of  the  priestly  office  by  the 
least  of  all  behevers.  "  By  Jesus  Christ  "  he  has 
been  made  "  acceptable  to  God,"  and  only  personal 
pollution  can  now  hinder  the  realization  of  those 
precious  privileges  in  the  presence  of  God. 

All  evangehsm  must  begin  with  prayer.  And 
no  human  service,  or  device,  can  take  the  place  of 
the  intercession  of  a  priest  who  is  cleansed,  and 
**  acceptable  to  God,"  even  in  the  holiest  place  **  by 
Jesus  Christ." 


io8  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

While  the  behever-priest  may  intercede  in  behalf 
of  his  fellow-members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  he,  too, 
may  intercede  for  the  lost ;  and  the  answer  to  that 
prayer  will  be  the  going  forth  of  the  Spirit  to  convince 
them  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment. 

The  importance  of  preaching  and  teaching  the 
truth  is  in  no  way  lessened  by  this  emphasis  upon 
priestly  prayer.  It  must  only  be  borne  in  mind  that 
prevailing  prayer  necessarily  precedes  all  other 
ministry  ;  for  it  alone  commands  the  power  of  God, 
and  secures  the  needed  illumination  of  the  mind 
toward  the  Word  that  may  be  preached.  Without 
prayer  there  can  be  little  understanding  and  vision 
of  the  Gospel,  even  though  faithfully  presented. 

The  reason  for  human  intercession  in  the  Divine 
plan  has  not  been  wholly  revealed.  The  repeated 
statements  of  Scripture  that  it  is  a  necessary  link  in 
the  chain  that  carries  the  Divine  energy  into  the 
impotent  souls  of  men,  in  addition  to  its  actual 
achievement  as  seen  in  the  world,  must  be  the 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  imperative  need  of  the 
prayer  in  connection  with  the  purpose  of  God. 
Thus  in  Scripture  and  in  experience  it  is  revealed 
that  God  has  honoured  man  with  an  exalted  place 
of  co-operation  and  partnership  with  Himself  in 
His  great  projects  of  human  transformation. 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     109 

Among  the  many  direct  and  positive  promises 
wherein  the  activity  of  the  Divine  power  is  con- 
ditioned on  human  faithfulness  in  prayer  but  one 
will  here  be  quoted  and  considered. 

In  John  xiv.  14,  it  is  written  :  "  If  ye  shall  ask 
anything  in  My  name,  I  will  do  it  "  (see  also  John 
XV.  7 ;  xvi.  23,  24 ;  and  Luke  xi.  9).  In  this 
Scripture  the  assignment  of  both  the  Divine  and 
the  human  part  in  the  work  is  clearly  seen  ;  for  the 
mere  outline  of  this  passage  is,  "If  ye  shall  ask, 
.  .  .  I  will  do."  Thus  God  reserves  to  Himself 
the  undertaking  and  accomplishment  of  every  object 
of  human  intercession,  and  assigns  to  man  the  service 
of  prayer.  This  is  quite  reasonable ;  for  it  is 
evident  that  the  accomplishment  of  any  spiritual 
transformation  must  ever  be  His  to  do,  since  its 
consummation  is  possible  to  Divine  strength  alone. 
Thus,  though  man  cannot  do  the  important  task, 
he  is  permitted,  through  intercession,  to  co-operate 
with  God  in  its  accomplishment,  and  to  fulfil,  accord- 
ing to  revelation,  a  necessary  part  in  the  Divine 
programme. 

It  should  be  noted  that,  under  these  conditions 
and  relationships,  every  true  prayer  is  not  only  an 
acknowledgment  of  God  as  the  only  sufficient  One, 
but  it  demands  an  attitude  of   entire   expectation 


no  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

from  Him  on  the  part  of  the  supplicant.  This  is 
essential  if  normal  relations  are  to  exist  between 
God  and  man.  The  answer  to  prayer,  when  the 
expectation  is  not  wholly  toward  God,  would  but 
divert  the  confidence  of  man,  and  foster  a  false 
trust  in  his  mind.  It  is  necessary  for  man,  therefore, 
in  the  interests  of  his  own  understanding  of  God  and 
truth,  to  come  directly  to  God,  acknowledging  His 
Omnipotence,  and  looking  to  Him  as  alone  sufficient 
to  do  the  thing  for  which  he  may  be  praying. 

Again,  it  may  be  seen  from  this  promise  that  God, 
to  some  extent,  has  seen  fit  to  condition  His  action 
upon  the  believer's  prayer ;  for  the  Scripture 
says  :  "  If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  My  name,  I  will 
do  it  "  ;  and  this  is  the  secret  of  all  true  evangelism. 

There  is  another  promise  bearing  directly  on  this 
point :  "If  any  man  see  his  brother  sin  a  sin  which 
is  not  unto  death,  he  shall  ask,  and  he  shall  give  him 
life  for  them  that  sin  not  unto  death.  There  is  a 
sin  unto  death  :  I  do  not  say  that  he  shall  pray  for 
it  "  (i  John  v.  i6). 

It  is,  then,  the  teaching  of  Scripture  that  the  mighty 
doing  power  of  God  in  convicting  and  illuminating 
the  unsaved  is  also,  in  a  large  measure,  dependent 
upon  the  priestly  intercession  of  the  believer.  This, 
too,  is  a  conspicuous  fact  in  experience  as  revealed 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     iii 

in  history.  Where  believing  prayer  has  been  offered 
with  expectation  toward  God  alone,  there  has  always 
been  evidence  of  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, 
according  to  His  covenant  promises.  These  periods 
of  refreshing  have  been  called  "  revivals."  The 
immediate  blessing  resulting  from  the  adjustment  of 
believers  to  the  programme  of  God  is  natural ; 
but  the  sure  return  to  an  attitude  of  indifference, 
on  the  human  side,  has  made  that  brief  season  of 
blessing  seem  to  be  some  special  visitation  from 
heaven  when  God  was  thought  to  have  been  '*  on 
the  giving  hand."  It  may  have  been  impossible, 
in  such  a  case,  for  the  extra  meetings  and  methods 
to  have  continued  ;  but  the  blessing  was  in  no  way 
conditioned  on  the  meetings  or  methods.  Inter- 
cessory prayer,  the  real  basis  of  the  blessing,  could 
and  should  have  continued.  The  marvellous,  and 
so  little  experienced  movings  of  the  Spirit  upon  the 
unsaved  are  at  the  command  of  the  least  of  God's 
children,  if  that  one  be  cleansed  ;  for  such  a  believer 
is  a  priest  unto  God,  and  there  is  no  condition  in 
Scripture  upon  his  intercession  of  times  and  seasons. 
How  little  the  stupendous  fact  of  this  individual 
power  in  prayer  is  realized  by  Christians  to-day  ! 
The  present  failure  to  enter  the  holy  place  in  inter- 
cession according  to  the  appointment  of  God,  on  the 


112  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

part  of  Christians,  is  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
present  lack  of  Holy  Ghost  conviction  and  conversion 
in  the  church. 

The  neglect  and  ignorance  of  the  facts  regarding 
the  believer's  privileges  in  prayer,  when  those  facts 
are  so  clearly  stated  in  the  Scriptures,  can  be 
explained  only  in  the  light  of  the  revealed  satanic 
opposition  to  the  purpose  of  God  ;  for  intercessory 
prayer  is  a  strategic  point  for  the  attack  of  this  arch 
enemy,  inasmuch  as  the  mighty  movements  of  the 
Spirit  for  salvation  are,  for  the  present  time,  awaiting 
this  human  co-operation. 

If  there  are  exceptions  in  the  history  of  *  revivals  " 
where  there  have  been  what  seemed  to  be  unprayed- 
for  out-pourings  of  the  Spirit,  in  no  case  can  it  be 
proved  that  prayer  was  not  offered.  In  every  case 
where  the  Spirit  seemed  to  descend  upon  the  church 
with  sovereign  power,  there  has  been  either  an 
appalling  spiritual  death  in  the  church,  or  a  new 
emphasis  has  been  needed  upon  some  neglected 
truth  in  evangelism.  Such  seasons  have  been  so 
rare  in  the  history  of  the  church  that  they  can  be 
counted  only  as  exceptions,  and  should  in  no  way  be 
used  to  qualify  the  revealed  plan  of  God,  which  He 
has  blessed  throughout  the  years. 

Not  only  are  the  priceless  results  of  the  saving 


THE  PRAYER  OF  INTERCESSION     113 

power  of  God  hindered,  but  the  individual  believer 
has  suffered  unmeasured  loss  in  his  possible  reward, 
when  the  prayer  of  intercession  has  for  any  reason 
ceased  ;  for  prayer  presents  the  greatest  opportunity 
for  soul-winning,  and  there  is  precious  reward 
promised  to  those  who  bring  souls  to  Christ,  and 
are  found  to  be  suffering  with  Him  in  His  burden 
for  the  lost. 


SUFFERING  WITH   CHRIST 


CHAPTER   V 

SUFFERING   WITH   CHRIST 

IT  should  not  be  concluded  from  what  has  gone 
•*  before  that  there  is  no  other  God-appointed 
human  service  in  behalf  of  the  lost  than  the  prayer 
of  intercession.  It  is  claimed,  however,  that  inter- 
cessory prayer  is  the  first  and  all-important  service 
according  to  Scripture.  The  Divine  order  is  to  talk 
to  God  about  men,  until  the  door  is  definitely  open 
to  talk  to  men  about  God.  Any  service  which  He 
may  appoint  after  believing  prayer  has  been  offered 
will  be  wonderfully  blessed  by  Him.  But  to  intrude 
upon  strangers,  unless  positively  led  to  do  so,  or 
to  implore  unwilling  and  unprepared  men,  is  to 
display  a  zeal  without  knowledge,  and  is  fraught 
with  peril  to  immortal  souls.  Such  boldness  is 
often  urged  and  commended  as  being  a  high  form 
of  Christian  service  ;  yet  no  Spirit-filled  person  can 
rush  ahead  of  the  movements  of  God  without  a  deep 
sense  of  protest  from  the  Spirit  Who  indwells  him. 
It  is  not  altogether  due  to  personal  diffidence  that 

117 


ii8  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

true  believers  often  find  it  difficult  to  speak  to  the 
unsaved  about  their  need  of  Christ.  There  is  a 
restraint  upon  such  service ;  for  if  the  unsaved  are 
not  prepared  by  the  Spirit,  any  attempt  to  force  a 
decision  will  be  a  violation  of  the  Divine  order. 

If  space  could  be  given  here  to  incidents  illustrat- 
ing the  necessity  of  waiting  on  God  and  for  God 
as  the  first  effort  to  be  made  for  the  salvation  of 
any  person,  it  would  be  apparent  that  the  prepara- 
tion of  one  soul  may  require  many  years,  or  this 
preparation  may  be  accomplished  in  another  in  as 
many  hours  ;  but  in  no  case  has  it  ever  been  advan- 
tageous to  press  the  decision  until  some  evidence  is 
given  that  the  preparation  is  complete.  Such  quiet 
waiting  will  always  be  rewarded  ;  for,  as  in  the  days 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  there  will  be  some  clear 
indication  from  the  illuminated  person  that  the  heart 
is  prepared  which  will  perfectly  open  the  way  for  any 
necessary  word  to  be  spoken  that  will  direct  that 
heart  to  its  acceptance  of  Christ.  Coaxing  and 
pleading  will  be  found  to  be  unnecessary,  for  the  soul 
will  be  thirsting  for  the  Water  of  Life. 

The  precious  service  of  leading  the  enlightened 
person  to  a  decision  is  often  appointed  to  the  one 
who  has  first  suffered  for  that  person  in  intercession. 
This  is  the  real  place  of  so-called  "  personal  work," 


SUFFERING    WITH    CHRIST         119 

and  too  much  cannot  be  said  of  the  value  of  the 
careful  preparation  and  instruction  of  every  believei 
for  this  particular  service,  for  there  is  need  of  great 
clearness  and  skill  in  explaining  the  exact  terms  of 
the  Gospel  to  the  one  upon  whom  the  Spirit  is  moving 
in  conviction  and  illumination.  A  distinction  should 
be  made,  however,  betv/een  directing  a  convicted 
and  burdened  soul  to  Christ,  and  forcing  an  issue 
upon  one  who  is  unprepared  by  the  Spirit. 

The  burden  of  heart  that  can  find  no  peace 
because  of  the  lost  condition  of  some  individual  is 
the  highest  form  of  human  suffering,  and  is  several 
times  referred  to  in  Scripture.  There  this  burden  for 
the  lost  is  seen,  not  only  to  form  a  part  of  human 
suffering,  but  to  be  a  normal  experience  in  the  Ufe 
of  every  saved  person.  That  it  is  not  a  common 
experience  among  Christians  to-day  can  be  explained 
only  by  the  fact  that  there  are  abnormal  conditions 
in  many  Christian  lives. 

The  reaUty  of  human  suffering  and  its  place  in  a 
Christian's  life  is  so  vital  a  part  of  true  evangelism, 
and  occupies  so  conspicuous  a  place  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  it  should  be  considered  sufficiently 
at  length  to  distinguish  that  particular  part  of 
suffering  which  has  to  do  with  salvation  of  the  lost 
from  its  other  aspects. 


120  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

The  believer  may  suffer  much  for  Christ.  This 
form  of  suffering  may  include  the  involuntary 
sacrifice  of  the  loss  of  friends,  property,  reputation, 
or  health,  and  the  voluntary  sacrifice  or  separation 
from  loved  ones,  gifts,  humiliation  and  faithful 
service,  even  unto  death.  It  is  stated  in  Phil.  i.  29 
that  such  suffering  is  a  gift  to  the  believer :  "  Unto 
you  it  is  given  in  behalf  of  Christ,  not  only  to  believe 
on  Him,  but  also  to  suffer  for  His  sake."  Unto  you 
it  is  given  to  be  parted  from  loved  ones  in  the  world- 
wide ministry  of  the  Gospel,  to  become  poor  that 
others  may  become  rich,  to  suffer  separation  or 
privation  as  a  sacrifice  for  Him. 

This  form  of  suffering  was  experienced  by  the 
Lord  of  Glory,  and  to  those  who  are  in  the  midst  of 
these  afflictions  it  is  said  :  "  The  sufferings  of  this 
present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us  "  ;  and  "  Our 
light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh 
for  us  a  far  more  and  exceeding  weight  of  glory." 

The  suffering  of  a  Christian  according  to  the 
Scriptures  is  primarily  suffering  with  Christ.  This 
is  attested  by  various  passages  (i  Pet.  iv.  13  ;  Rom. 
viii.  17  ;  Col.  i.  24 ;  Phil.  ii.  5-9  ;  and  2  Tim.  ii. 
12).  The  important  word  used  in  connection  with 
the  believer's  relation  to  Christian  suffering  is  "with," 


SUFFERING    WITH   CHRIST         121 

and  that  word  emphasizes  the  necessary  distinction 
that  much  of  the  suffering  in  the  world  is  ahen  to 
fellowship  with  Christ.  On  the  other  hand,  this  word 
suggests  a  vital  union  and  Divine  co-partnership 
between  the  suffering  believer  and  His  suffering  Lord. 

In  suffering  with  Christ  the  Christian  may  either 
suffer  from  man  the  reproaches  of  Christ,  or  he 
may  come  to  experience  with  Christ  a  Divinely 
wrought  burden  and  sorrow  for  the  lost.  Beyond 
this  it  is  impossible  for  any  believer  to  go  in  the 
mystery  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ ;  for  what  He 
suffered  from  God  in  becoming  Himself  an  offering 
for  sin  could  not  be  shared  by  any  other,  though  one 
might  greatly  desire  a  similar  ministry.  See 
Rom.  ix.  1-3. 

Suffering  with  Christ  is  a  natural  phase  of  a 
Christian's  life  and  experience.  He  is  sojourning 
in  an  enemy's  land,  is  called  to  be  a  witness  against 
its  sin,  and  is  summoned  to  labour  that  souls  may 
be  saved  from  its  evil  and  darkness.  "  If  the  world 
hate  you,  ye  know  that  it  hated  Me  before  it  hated 
you.  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would 
love  his  own  ;  but  because  ye  are  not  of  the  world, 
but  I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore 
the  world  hateth  you  "  (John  xv.  18,  19).  To  those 
who  did  not  beUeve  on  Him  He  said  :   "  The  world 


122  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

cannot  hate  you  ;  but  Me  it  hateth,  because  I 
testify  of  it,  that  the  works  thereof  are  evil  "  (John 
vii.  7).  "  It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that  he  be  as 
his  master,  and  the  servant  as  his  lord.  If  they  have 
called  the  master  of  the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much 
more  shall  they  call  them  of  his  household  ?  "  (Matt. 
X.  25).  "As  thou  hast  sent  Me  into  the  world,  even 
so  have  I  also  sent  them  into  the  world  "  (John  xvii. 
18).  "  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning 
the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some 
strange  thing  happened  unto  you  ;  but  rejoice, 
inasmuch  as  you  are  partakers  in  Christ's  sufferings, 
that  when  His  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be 
glad  with  exceeding  joy  "  (i  Pet.  iv.  12,  13). 

So  also,  as  is  seen  by  these  passages,  suffering 
with  Christ  here  is  the  only  possible  path  into  the 
reward  of  being  glorified  together  with  Him  over 
there.  This  is  not  salvation,  for  salvation  cannot  be 
gained  by  any  degree  of  human  suffering.  It  is 
rather  the  glorious  crown  and  reward  to  be  given 
to  the  faithful  in  their  co-partnership  with  Christ. 
This  truth  is  emphasized  in  the  following  passage  : 
"  Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which  was  also  in  Christ 
Jesus  :  who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not 
robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  ;  but  made  Himself  of 
no  reputation,  and  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  a 


SUFFERING    WITH    CHRIST  123 

servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  man  :  and 
being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  He  humbled  Himself 
and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  Cross.  Wherefore  God  hath  highly  exalted  Him, 
and  given  Him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name  : 
that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow, 
of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things 
under  the  earth  ;  and  every  tongue  should  confess 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father  "  (Phil.  ii.  5-11). 

Here  it  is  inferred  that  the  believer  is  to  allow  the 
mind  of  Christ  to  be  reproduced  in  him  by  the  power 
of  God  (Phil.  ii.  13),  and  these  seven  successive  steps 
in  the  path  of  Christ,  from  His  native  place  in  the 
glory  to  the  felon's  death  on  the  cross,  are  reviewed  in 
this  Scripture  only  that  such  steps  may  be  admitted 
in  the  Christian's  life,  who  is  to  be  "  as  his  Lord  " 
even  in  this  world.  It  is  also  inferred  in  this  passage 
that,  through  this  relation  to  Jesus  in  suffering, 
there  is  to  be  an  identity  with  Him  in  His  glory. 
"The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that 
we  are  the  children  of  God :  and  if  children,  then 
heirs  ;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ ; 
if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  Him,  that  we  may  be 
also  glorified  together.  For  I  reckon  that  the  suffer- 
ings of  the   present   time  are   not    worthy   to  be 


124  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

compared  with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in 
us"  (Rom.  viii.  16-18).  "It  is  a  faithful  saying: 
For  if  we  be  dead  with  Him,  we  shall  also  live  with 
Him  :  if  we  suffer,  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him  : 
if  we  deny  Him,  He  also  will  deny  us  "  (2  Tim.  ii. 
II,  12). 

Suffering  was  the  ministry  to  which  Paul  was 
appointed  by  the  Lord  through  the  disciple  Ananias 
when  the  Lord  commanded  Ananias :  "Go  thy 
way  :  for  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  Me,  to  bear  My 
name  before  the  Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children 
of  Israel :  for  I  will  shew  him  how  great  things  he 
must  suffer  for  My  Name's  sake  "  (Acts  ix.  15,  16). 

Thus  it  may  be  concluded  that,  while  all  the 
mystery  of  suffering  is  not  explained,  and  probably 
cannot  be,  it  is  an  essential  part  of  the  Christian's 
life  and  union  with  Christ  in  this  world,  and  of 
identification  with  Him  in  His  glory. 

Of  that  suffering  which  is  from  man  and  because 
of  the  believer's  relation  and  loyalty  to  Christ  it  is 
said  :  "  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning 
the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some 
strange  thing  happened  unto  you  :  but  rejoice, 
inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings  ; 
that  when  His  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be 
glad  also  with  exceeding  joy.     If  ye  be  reproached 


SUFFERING    WITH    CHRIST  125 

for  the  name  of  Christ,  happy  are  ye  ;  for  the 
spirit  of  glory  and  of  God  resteth  upon  you  :  on 
their  part  he  is  evil  spoken  of,  but  on  your  part  he 
is  glorified.  But  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer, 
or  a  thief,  or  as  an  evil  doer,  or  as  a  busybody  in 
other  men's  matters.  Yet  if  any  man  suffer  as  a 
Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed  ;  but  let  him 
glorify  God  on  this  behalf"  (i  Pet.  iv.  12-16). 

It  is,  however,  sympathetic  suffering  that  enters 
most  directly  into  the  movements  of  the  power  of 
God  in  evangelism.  As  a  mother's  face  may  reflect 
more  pain  than  the  face  of  her  suffering  child,  so  there 
is  an  unlimited  realm  of  possible  suffering  in  sym.- 
pathy  and  burden  for  another.  This  highest  and 
deepest  suffering  is  bom  of  two  parents,  which  are 
love  and  appreciation.  The  brute  may  love  its 
offspring,  but  cannot  appreciate  its  sufferings  ;  while 
a  savage  may  appreciate  pain,  but  cares  nothing  for 
the  suffering  one.  To  the  one  who  both  knows  and 
feels  there  is  revealed  a  degree  of  the  mystery  of 
suffering  in  sympathy. 

MTien  the  sufferings  of  Christ  are  contemplated  in 
the  light  of  this  simple  fact,  it  will  be  seen  that  back 
of  the  Cross  is,  first,  the  infinite  wisdom,  vision  and 
power  to  appreciate  on  the  part  of  God.  He  com- 
prehended man's  sin,  his  eternal  ruin,  and  necessary 


126  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

banishment  from  His  presence.  And  second,  He 
loved  the  world  of  men  enough  to  act  mightily  in 
their  behalf.  That  He  loved  them  is  the  reason 
for  His  effort  for  them.  That  He  appreciat-ed  their 
terrible  need  was  the  warrant  for  the  particular  thing 
He  did.  The  measure  of  His  appreciation  and  love 
is  unbounded  ;  for  "  He  bore  our  sins  in  His  own 
body  on  the  tree,"  which  reveals  the  reality  of  our 
sins  as  viewed  by  an  infinite  God.  He  became  the 
propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 

It  was  not  the  love  of  God  alone  that  was  revealed 
in  the  Cross,  His  eternal  wisdom  and  Godhead  are 
seen  as  well  by  the  particular  thing  which  He  did 
for  man's  redemption.  In  the  Cross  He  also  disclosed 
His  estimate  of  man's  need.  So  the  Cross  is,  in  the 
mind  and  heart  of  the  Infinite,  both  a  warning  of 
doom  and  a  wooing  of  love ;  and  it  is  no  credit  to 
finite  man  that  he  denies  the  voice  of  the  Infinite, 
rejects  His  verdict  of  human  hopelessness,  and 
misinterprets  the  value  and  vision  of  the  death  of 
Christ. 

The  dominant  motive  that  prompted  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  was  revealed  in  one  of  His  prayers  at  the 
Cross.  Had  His  suffering  been  physical  alone,  His 
prayer  might  have  been,  Father,  they  are  causing 
Me  physical  pain  ;    or  had  His  sufferings  been  His 


SUFFERING    WITH   CHRIST         127 

personal  sacrifice  alone,  He  might  have  prayed, 
Father,  they  are  taking  My  life  from  Me  :  in  reality 
He  prayed,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not 
what  they  do."  And  while  the  sufferings  of  His 
body  and  the  sacrifice  of  His  life  constituted  an 
offering  for  sin,  "  once  for  all,"  these  were  prompted 
by  the  Divine  vision  of  human  need  and  His  yearning 
compassion  for  lost  and  ruined  men  ;  for  He  prayed 
not  for  Himself,  but  for  them.  In  that  mysterious 
suffering  for  the  sin  of  the  world  no  human  can  suffer 
with  Christ.  That  suffering  was  final  and  complete. 
It  can  only  be  believed  in  and  appropriated  by  the 
one  who  has  come  to  realize  his  own  share  in  it. 

When  a  soul  has  come  under  the  shadow,  and 
received  the  redemption  of  the  Cross,  that  one  is 
then  privileged  to  suffer  with  Christ  in  a  compassion 
for  the  lost ;  being  also  prompted,  in  some  measure, 
by  the  same  Divine  vision  and  love,  through  the 
presence  and  power  of  the  indwelling  Spirit. 

This  is  illustrated  by  the  testimony  of  the  Apostle 
Paul  in  Rom.  ix.  1-3  :  "  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ, 
I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also  bearing  me  witness  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have  great  heaviness  and 
continual  sorrow  in  my  heart.  For  I  could  wish  that 
myself  were  accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren, 
my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh." 


128  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

Much  is  said  in  the  preceding  context  of  the 
power  and  blessing  of  the  Spirit  indwelling  the 
Christian.  In  this  passage,  however,  He  is  seen 
lifting  the  Apostle  Paul  to  the  same  view-point  that 
Christ  occupied,  when  He  was  wilUng  to  be  accursed 
that  lost  men  might  be  saved,  and  which  He  ex- 
perienced when  He  cried,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  Thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  From  this  point  of 
Divine  vision  Paul  longs,  too,  with  an  unutterable 
longing  to  make  some  sufficient  sacrifice,  even  an 
impossible  and  terrible  separation  from  Christ  his 
Lord,  if  only  his  brethren,  his  kinsmen  after  the 
flesh,  might  be  saved.  This  attitude  of  agonized 
suffering  for  the  salvation  of  his  brethren  was  not 
an  element  of  the  human  nature  of  Saul,  who  found 
his  delight  in  the  condemnation  and  execution  of  his 
brethren  when  they  were  found  to  be  followers  of 
Jesus ;  nor  is  this  Divine  touch  found  in  any 
unregenerate  life.  It  is  "  The  love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is 
given  unto  us,"  or  in  reality,  the  very  love  of  God 
reaching  out  for  the  lost  through  the  believer.  This 
experience  of  Paul's  is  possible  to  others.  By  the 
Indwelling  One,  the  believer  may  come  both  to 
appreciate  the  lost  estate  of  men  and  to  experience 
a  Divine  compassion    or  them. 


SUFFERING    WITH   CHRIST         129 

Suffering  with  Christ,  then,  in  its  deepest  meaning, 
is  to  come  to  experience  by  the  Spirit  an  unutterable 
agony  for  men  out  of  Christ,  and  from  that  vision 
and  love  to  be  willing  to  offer  personal  sacrifice  or 
endure  physical  pain,  if  need  be,  that  they  may  be 
saved.  This  is  as  near  to  "  a  cross  "  as  the  Christian 
can  come  in  experience  ;  for  he  can  make  no  atone- 
ment, nor  is  human  atonement  needed.  As  his 
eyes  are  opened  and  his  heart  is  made  sensitive 
to  the  indescribable  need  of  any  soul  out  of  Christ, 
he  has,  to  that  extent,  experienced  the  Divine 
compassion  "  shed  abroad  in  his  heart."  Such 
suffering  with  Christ  is  the  heritage  of  every 
regenerate  soul. 

One  has  but  to  recaD  the  spiritual  agony  of  soul, 
like  the  physical  pain  of  a  woman  in  travail,  that 
has  borne  down  upon  believers  in  the  great  ingather- 
ings of  history  in  connection  with  the  birth  of  souls 
to  understand  the  reahty  of  Divinely  wrought 
suffering  with  Christ,  which  is  granted  to  the  behever, 
and  is  the  sure  warrant  of  identification  -with  Him 
in  His  glory.  So,  whenever  a  believer  is  prepared 
to  receive  this  great  gift  of  suffering  with  Christ,  it 
will  be  granted  unto  him  to  such  a  degree,  and  at 
such  times  as  he  is  able  to  bear  it.  All  pity  for 
those  Christians  who,  through  want  of  adjustment 


130  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

to  the  mind  and  purpose  of  God,  are  never  so 
privileged  ! 

There  is  a  great  lost  world  of  individuals  sur- 
rounding every  believer,  and  if  his  heart  is  attuned 
to  the  Spirit  that  indwells  him,  he  cannot  but  suffer 
at  times  with  Christ  in  an  agony  of  soul  that  they 
may  be  saved.  That  soul-anguish  in  a  believer 
may  find  its  expression  only  in  "  groanings  that 
cannot  be  uttered."  In  this  extremity,  he  will  be 
driven  into  the  holiest  place,  and  he  will  find  no 
relief  except  in  the  pntstiy  prayer  of  intercession. 

Through  such  intercession  the  Spirit  is  covenanted 
to  go  forward  to  deal  with  unregenerate  men,  and 
by  His  mighty  Sword  strike  the  bhndness  from  their 
eyes,  and  bring  them  face  to  face  with  the  salvation 
that  is  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Here  it  will  be  observed  that  this  Divine  burden 
for  the  lost  is  a  very  uncommon  experience  among 
believers  to-day  ;  and  the  solution  of  this  problem  is 
found  in  the  last  step  that  marks  the  movements  of 
the  "  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  The  difficulty 
Ues  with  the  defilement  of  the  priests  before  God  who 
do  not  and  cannot,  because  of  their  own  unfitness, 
experience  the  love  of  God  for  others,  or  prevail  with 
God  in  the  holy  place. 


THE 
CLEANSING   OF  THE   PRIESTS 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   CLEANSING   OF  THE   PRIESTS 

TTHE  various  conditions  on  which  the  answer  to 
prayer  depends,  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, require  an  experience  in  the  suppKcant  of  com- 
mon vision  and  sympathy  with  the  mind  and  will  of 
God.  '*  If  ye  abide  in  Me  and  My  words  abide  in  you," 
is  a  condition  which  demands  a  relation  to  God  on 
the  part  of  the  individual,  wherein  both  the  present 
leading  of  God  is  realized  and  His  written  will  is 
known.  To  abide  in  Christ  is  to  keep  His  com- 
mandments (John  XV.  lo),  and  to  be  in  close  fellow- 
ship with  Him.  To  have  His  Word  abiding  in  us 
is  to  be  instructed  in  the  Scriptures  ;  and  to  one  who 
has  thus  been  brought  into  full  sympathy  with  the 
purpose  of  God,  it  can  safely  be  said,  "  Ye  shall 
ask  what  ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you." 
This  promise  of  prayer,  then,  is  not  unlimited,  as  is 
sometimes  supposed,  but  is  qualified  by  a  required 
adjustment  to  the  will  of  God  of  the  mind  and  heart 
of  the  one  who  prays.     So,  also,  the  oft-repeated 

133 


134  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

condition,  "  In  My  name  "  admits  of  only  such 
themes  in  prayer  as  can  reasonably  be  coupled  with 
the  glory  of  Christ  and  the  projects  of  His  unfinished 
work  in  the  world. 

Another  condition  of  prayer  is  given  in  Mark  xi.  24  : 
"  Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  What  things  soever 
ye  desire,  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  receive 
them,  and  ye  shall  have  them."  This  condition 
does  not  include  every  subject  of  prayer ;  for  it 
would  be  impossible  to  believe  that  God  would  grant 
anything  inconsistent  with  His  own  purpose  or 
Being.  Yet  with  all  this  nearness  to  the  mind  of 
God  there  will  be  many  legitimate  objects  of  prayer, 
concerning  the  wisdom  of  which  the  believer  must 
ever  be  in  doubt ;  for  all  requests  in  prayer  naturally 
fall  into  two  classes  at  the  point  of  the  known  will 
of  God.  When  there  is  no  revelation,  the  supplicator 
can  never  pass  the  boundary  of  the  qualifying 
words,  "  Thy  will,  not  mine,  be  done."  But  when 
there  is  a  revelation  of  the  will  of  God,  this  boundary 
is  done  away  ;  and  to  be  uncertain  of  the  will  of 
God,  when  His  will  is  clearly  revealed,  is  but  to 
doubt  the  Word  through  which  He  has  made  it 
manifest. 

The  priestly  intercession  of  the  believer,  which  is 
a  necessary  element  in  true  evangelism,  falls  in  the 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      135 

realm  of  this  latter  phase  of  prayer.  This  prayer  is 
nothing  less  than  the  mighty  movings  of  the  "  power 
of  God  unto  salvation,"  since  the  Spirit  indites 
the  intercession.  It  is  a  glorious  human  co-partner- 
ship with  the  Divine  Shepherd  in  His  solicitude  and 
effort  to  seek  the  lost. 

Every  possible  question  as  to  the  Divine  will  in 
the  salvation,  sanctification  and  glorification  of 
men  has  been  wholly  answered  in  the  revelation  of 
the  heart  of  God  through  the  sacrifice  of  the  Cross. 
**  His  eternal  power  and  Godhead  "  were  revealed 
in  the  things  created  ;  "  For  the  invisible  things  of 
Him  from  the  creation  of  the  world  were  clearly 
seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are  made, 
even  His  eternal  power  and  Godhead  "  (Rom.  i.  20). 
His  soul-saving  compassion  and  desire  for  helpless 
men  was  revealed  in  the  Cross  of  Christ ;  as  it  is 
written  :  "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time  ; 
the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  He  hath  declared  Him  "  (John  i.  18).  "  For 
God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begot- 
ten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life  "  (John  iii.  16). 
*•  For  this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of 
God  our  Saviour  ;  Who  will  have  all  men  to  be 
saved,  and  to  come  into  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  " 


136  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

(i  Tim.  ii.  3,  4).  "  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling 
the  world  unto  Himself  "  (2  Cor.  v.  19). 

From  the  foregoing  Scriptures  it  may  be  seen  that 
there  has  been  a  completion  of  all  the  grounds  of 
salvation,  and  a  sufficient  revelation  of  the  purpose 
and  will  of  God  for  the  redemption  of  all  men 
through  the  Cross  of  Christ ;  and  since  His  covenant- 
promises,  relating  to  prayer,  are  still  in  force,  it  is 
clear  that  all  hindrances  to  the  movements  of  God 
in  salvation  must  be  due  to  some  failure  on  the 
human  side.  Either  the  believers  do  not  meet  their 
high  privilege  in  the  holy  place,  or  the  unsaved, 
when  convicted,  reject  the  vision  that  is  given  unto 
them.  Since  there  is  little  evidence  of  any  new 
vision  received,  or  rejected,  on  the  part  of  the 
unregenerate,  the  solution  of  the  question  as  to 
why  there  is  not  more  saving  power  among  believers 
to-day  must  be  sought  for  in  the  realm  of  the 
believer's  ministry  of  intercession. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that,  while  there 
may  be  little  demand  for  purification  in  the  exercise 
of  gifts,  where  the  service  is  only  between  man  and 
man,  there  can  be  no  entering  into  the  holy  place 
without  the  laving  or  removal  of  defilement,  which 
God  alone  may  see.  This  cleansing  has  been 
t}T)ified  by  the  laver  that  stood  at  the  entrance  to 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      137 

the  "Holy  of  holies  "  in  the  tabernacle  of  old.  Thi 
necessity  of  that  special  cleansing  of  the  priest 
before  he  approached  the  presence  of  Jehovah 
"  in  the  tent  of  meeting  "  was  emphasized  by  the 
penalty  of  death  if  the  cleansing  was  neglected. 
The  passage  in  Ex.  xxx.  17-21  is  here  given  : 

"  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  also  make  a  laver  of  brass,  and  his  foot  also  oi 
brass,  to  wash  withal :  and  thou  shalt  put  it  between 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  and  the  altar, 
and  thou  shalt  put  water  therein.  For  Aaron  and 
his  sons  shall  wash  their  hands  and  their  feet  thereat : 
when  they  go  into  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation, 
they  shall  wash  with  water,  that  they  die  not ;  or 
when  they  come  near  to  the  altar  to  minister,  to  burn 
offerings  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord  :  so  they  shall 
wash  their  hands  and  their  feet,  that  they  die  not : 
and  it  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  to  tliem,  even  to 
him  and  his  seed  throughout  their  generations." 

The  restatement  of  the  same  truth  is  found  in 
several  passages  in  the  New  Testament  in  which 
the  cleansing  and  refitting  of  the  believer-priest  is 
set  forth.  In  John  xiii.  3-1 1,  Jesus  speaks  of  the 
first  tense  of  salvation  as  the  whole  bath  ("  He  that 
is  bathed ")  ;  and,  in  contrast  to  this,  He  also 
speaks  of  His  own  work  in  removing  the  believer's 


138  TRUE   EVANGELISM 

defilement  that  may  have  been  received  through 
contact  with  the  world.  This  cleansing  of  the 
believer  is  typified  by  the  bathing  of  the  feet.  This 
is  most  suggestive  when  compared  with  the  one 
preparatory  whole  bath  of  the  Aaronic  priest  which 
was  required  when  he  entered  the  priestly  office 
{Ex.  xxix.  4),  and  the  necessary  repeated  laving 
before  each  entrance  into  the  holy  place  in  the  course 
of  his  priestly  ministry. 

John  xiii.  3-1 1,  which  teaches  the  possible  cleans- 
ing of  the  believer-priest,  is  as  follows  :  "  Jesus 
knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all  things  into 
His  hands,  and  that  He  was  come  from  God,  and 
went  to  God,  He  riseth  from  supper,  and  laid  aside 
His  garments  ;  and  took  a  towel,  and  girded  Himself. 
After  that  He  poureth  water  into  a  basin,  and  began 
to  wash  the  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with 
the  towel  wherewith  He  was  girded.  Then  cometh 
He  to  Simon  Peter  :  and  Peter  said  unto  Him,  Lord, 
dost  Thou  wash  my  feet  ?  Jesus  answered  and 
said  unto  him.  What  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now ;  but 
thou  shalt  know  hereafter.  Peter  said  unto  Him, 
Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet.  Jesus  answered 
him.  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  Me. 
Simon  Peter  saith  unto  Him,  Lord,  not  my  feet 
only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head.     Jesus  saith 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      139 

to  him,  He  that  is  washed  needeth  not  save  to  wash 
his  feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit :  and  ye  are  clean, 
but  not  all.  For  He  knew  who  should  betray  Him  ; 
therefore  said  He,  Ye  are  not  all  clean." 

Upon  this  passage,  Dr.  C.  I.  Scofield  gives  the 
following  note  in  the  "  Scofield  Reference  Bible  "  : 
"  The  underlying  imagery  is  of  an  oriental  returning 
from  the  public  bath  to  his  home.  His  feet  would 
contract  defilement  and  require  cleansing,  but  not 
his  body.  So  the  believer  is  cleansed  as  before  the 
law  from  all  sin  '  once  for  all  '  (Heb.  x.  1-12),  but 
needs  ever  to  bring  his  daily  sins  to  the  Father  in 
confession,  that  he  may  abide  in  unbroken  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son  (i  John  i.  i-io). 
The  blood  of  Christ  answers  for  ever  to  all  the  law 
could  say  as  to  the  believer's  guilt,  but  he  needs 
constant  cleansing  from  the  defilement  of  sin.  See 
Eph.  V.  25-27  ;  I  John  v.  6.  Typically,  the  order 
of  approach  to  the  presence  of  God  was,  first,  the 
brazen  altar  of  sacrifice,  and  then  the  laver  of 
cleansing  (Ex.  xl.  6,  7).  See,  also,  the  order  in 
Ex.  xxx.  17-21  :  Christ  cannot  have  communion 
with  a  defiled  saint,  but  He  can  and  will  cleanse 
him." 

Other  passages  on  the  cleansing  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment priest  should  be  quoted  also  :  "  Husbands,  love 


140  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

your  wives,  even  as  Christ  loved  the  church,  and  gave 
Himself  for  it ;  that  He  might  sanctify  and  cleanse 
it  with  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word,  that  He 
might  present  it  to  Himself  a  glorious  church,  not 
having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ;  but  that 
it  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish  "  (Eph.  v. 
25-27).  "  If  we  say  that  we  have  fellowship  with 
Him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  the 
truth  :  but  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the 
light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all 
sin.  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our- 
selves, and  the  truth  is  not  in  us.  If  we  confess  our 
sins,  He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins, 
and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness  "  (i  John 
i.  6-9).  "  Nevertheless  the  foundation  of  God 
standeth  sure,  having  this  seal,  the  Lord  knoweth 
them  that  are  His.  And,  let  every  one  that  nameth 
the  name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity.  But  in 
a  great  house  there  are  not  only  vessels  of  gold  and 
of  silver,  but  also  of  wood  and  of  earth  ;  and  some 
to  honour  and  some  to  dishonour.  If  a  man  there- 
fore purge  himself  from  these,  he  shall  be  a  vessel 
unto  honour,  sanctified,  and  meet  for  the  Master's 
use,  and  prepared  unto  every  good  work  "  (2  Tim. 
ii.  19-21). 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      141 

The  Aaronic  priest  met  the  penalty  of  instant 
death  if  he  attempted  to  enter  the  Holy  of  hohes 
without  the  laving  that  was  prescribed  by  the  law, 
and  while  that  penalty  is  not  continued  under 
grace,  it  is  evident  that  God  has  safeguarded  His 
holy  Presence  by  closing  the  door  of  the  believer's 
priestly  ministry  so  long  as  his  sin  and  defilement  is 
not  put  away.  As  the  priest  of  the  Old  Testament 
failed  in  his  office  through  unfitness  before  God,  so 
the  priest  of  the  New  Testament,  from  the  same 
cause,  may  sacrifice  much  of  his  privilege  in  holy 
service  and  communion  Math  Christ.  His  priestly 
ministry  of  sacrifice,  in  which  he  presents  his  body, 
his  praise  and  his  benevolence,  may  go  on  in  their 
outward  forms,  he  being  under  grace  ;  yet  it  cannot 
be  effectual  when,  because  of  sin,  it  is  a  ministry  that 
is  not  acceptable  to  God.  So  also  his  priestly 
ministry  of  intercession  may  become  of  no  avail 
through  defilement. 

Here,  as  in  the  ministry  of  sacrifice,  the  loss 
is  immeasurable.  Not  only  are  all  his  possible 
services  to  Grod  and  blessings  to  men  hindered, 
which  might  be  realized  through  his  ministry 
in  the  holiest  place,  but  he  is  without  the  joy 
and  peace  of  fellowship  with  Christ.  It  is  of  great 
importance  for  the  believer  to  realize  that  through 


142  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

his  defilement,  not  only  his  priestly  ministry  is 
hindered,  but  his  own  fellowship  with  Christ  is 
sacrificed  as  well.  "  If  we  say  that  we  have  fellow- 
ship with  Him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie,  and  do 
not  the  truth  :  but  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is 
in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another, 
and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin "  (i  John  i.  6,  7).  "  These  things 
(about  abiding  in  Christ)  have  I  spoken  unto  you, 
that  My  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy 
might  be  full "  (John  xv.  11).  "  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the  Father 
in  My  name.  He  will  give  it  you.  Hitherto  ye  have 
asked  nothing  in  My  name  :  ask,  and  ye  shall 
receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full "  (John  xvi.  23, 
24).  "  And  now  I  come  to  thee  ;  and  these  things 
I  speak  in  the  world,  that  they  might  have  My  joy 
fulfilled  in  themselves "  (John  xvii.  13).  "  That 
which  we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you, 
that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us  :  and 
truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with 
His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  And  these  things  write 
we  unto  you,  that  your  joy  may  be  full " 
(i  John  i.  3,  4). 

It  may  then  be  concluded  that  defilement  in  the 
believer  hinders  every  phase  of  his  priestly  office. 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      143 

makes  fellowship  with  Christ  impossible,  and  robs 
him  of  his  personal  joy  and  blessing. 

The  limitation  that  is  placed  upon  the  priestly 
prayer  of  intercession  through  undealt-with  sin  in 
the  behever's  hfe  is  the  only  aspect  of  this  truth 
that  is  directly  related  to  the  subject  of  evangelism. 

The  following  Scriptures  warrant  the  conclusion 
that  sin  directly  hinders  prevailing  prayer  : 

"  If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord  will 
not  hear  me  "  (Psa.  Ixvi.  18).  "  Behold,  the  Lord's 
hand  is  not  shortened,  that  it  cannot  save  ;  neither 
His  ear  heavy  that  He  cannot  hear  :  but  your 
iniquities  have  separated  between  you  and  your 
God,  and  your  sins  have  hid  His  face  from  you,  that 
He  will  not  hear  "  (Isa.  Ux.  i,  2).  "  Therefore  if 
thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there  remember- 
est  that  thy  brother  hath  ought  against  thee  ;  leave 
there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy  way : 
first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  then  come 
and  offer  thy  gift  "  (Matt.  v.  23,  24).  "  If  ye  abide 
in  Me,  and  My  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what 
ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you  "  (John  xv.  7). 
"  I  will  therefore  that  men  pray  everywhere,  lifting 
up  holy  hands,  without  wrath  and  doubting " 
(i  Tim.  ii.  8).  "  Ye  lust,  and  have  not :  ye  kill,  and 
desire  to  have,  and  cannot  obtain  :  ye  fight  and  war, 


144  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

yet  ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask  not.  Ye  ask,  and 
receive  not,  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  con- 
sume it  upon  your  lusts  "  (James  iv.  2,  3).  "  Con- 
fess your  faults  one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for 
another,  that  ye  may  be  healed.  The  effectual 
fervent  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much  " 
(James  v.  16).  "  Likewise,  ye  husbands,  dwell  with 
them  according  to  knowledge,  giving  honour  unto 
the  wife,  as  unto  the  weaker  vessel,  and  as  being 
heirs  together  of  the  grace  of  life  ;  that  your  prayers 
be  not  hindered  "  (i  Pet.  iii.  7). 

There  is  no  point  more  strategic  for  the  subtle 
attack  of  Satan  against  the  plan  and  work  of  God 
in  saving  men  than  the  one  where  God  offers  to  meet 
the  Christian  for  cleansing  ;  for,  if  cleansing  can  be 
hindered,  very  much  of  human  co-operation  with 
God  in  "  seeking  the  lost  "  is  hindered  also.  This 
Satanic  influence  is  seen  first  in  the  fact  that  the 
Christians  are  almost  universally  ignorant  of  the 
God-provided  way  by  which  they  may  be  cleansed 
from  their  defilement ;  and  second,  this  satanic 
influence  is  seen  in  the  tendency  of  the  flesh  to  resist 
the  necessary  requirements  of  God,  even  when  they 
are  understood. 

The  definite  offer  to  the  unregenerate  person  of 
the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  is  conditioned  upon  his 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      145 

receiving  Christ  as  his  personal  Saviour,  and  there 
is  equally  as  definite  an  offer  to  the  Christian  for  the 
forgiveness  of  his  sin  and  defilement.  The  condi- 
tion which  is  imposed  upon  the  believer  is  that  he 
confess  his  sins.  "If  we  confess  our  sins,  He  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness  "  (i  John  i.  9). 

The  offer  of  forgiveness  to  the  unsaved  and  the 
offer  of  forgiveness  to  the  saved  should  never  be 
confused.  While  both  are  made  possible  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  the  sin  question  with  the  unsaved  is 
dealt  with  as  a  part  of  the  whole  first  tense  of  salva- 
tion, which  cannot  be  divided,  and  is  likened  by 
Christ  to  the  whole  bath  :  while  the  sin  question 
with  the  saved  person  stands  alone,  since  no  other 
aspect  of  his  glorious  salvation  is  disturbed  by  his 
sin.  Hence  the  removal  of  his  defilement  is  all  that 
is  called  for  ;  and  that  is  likened  by  Christ  to  the 
bathing  of  the  feet  of  one  who  is  returning  from  the 
whole  bath. 

The  Prodigal  Son  presents  an  illustration  of  the 
way  in  which  a  Christian  may  return  to  fellowship 
and  blessing.  There  is  no  record  that  the  prodigal 
was  any  less  a  son  "  in  the  far  country  "  than  he  was 
in  his  own  home  ;  nor  is  it  recorded  of  him  that  he 
returned  to  his  father's  house  on  the  basis  of  sacrifice 

K 


146  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

or  atonement :  but  it  is  stated  that  he  returned  on 
the  basis  of  confession  ;  for  it  is  said  that  he  arose 
and  came  to  his  father,  and  said  unto  him,  "  Father, 
I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and 
am  not  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son." 

In  this  same  connection  it  may  be  seen  that  con- 
fession is  the  only  requirement  that  can  reasonably 
be  demanded  of  a  sinning  saint ;  for  the  basis  of 
any  true  fellowship  is  a  symphonizing  of  thought  and 
purpose.  Hence  any  defilement  in  a  believer  of 
necessity  interrupts  his  fellowship  (though  not  his 
salvation)  with  a  holy  God.  When  fellowship  with 
God  is  broken  by  sin,  it  can  be  re-established  only 
by  a  frank  admission  of  guilt  and  failure  on  the  part 
of  the  sinning  one.  To  refuse  a  confession  is  to 
contend  that  right  is  wrong,  and  wrong  is  right,  which 
would  be  a  contradiction  of  the  very  nature  and 
character  of  God. 

Confession  re-opens  the  way  for  fellowship  with 
God  and  of  access  to  God,  but  it  does  not  in  any  way 
atone  for  sin.  Propitiation  for  sin  was  perfectly 
accomplished  at  the  Cross.  Since  His  ascension, 
Christ  has  been  continually  pleading  the  efficacy  of 
His  own  sacrificial  death  for  sin  in  behalf  of  believers 
(Rom.  viii.  33,  34  ;  Heb.  vii.  25).  Therefore,  it  is 
said  to  the  Christian  :  "  If  we  confess  our  sin,  He  is 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      147 

faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sin,  and  to  cleanse 
us  from  all  unrighteousness."  The  sin  of  the  saved 
one  is  not  forgiven  on  the  grounds  of  an  immediate 
act  of  mercy,  but  is  forgiven  on  the  grounds  of  the 
sacrifice  made  "  once  for  all "  at  the  Cross.  So  it  is 
said  that  God  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins,  rather  than  that  He  is  tender  anc^  merciful 
to  forgive  us  our  sins. 

The  importance  of  confession  of  sin  and  of  self- 
judgment  is  mentioned  also  in  i  Cor.  xi.,  31,  32. 
"  For  if  we  would  judge  ourselves,  we  should  not  be 
judged.  But  when  we  are  judged,  we  are  chastened 
of  the  Lord,  that  we  should  not  be  condemned  with 
the  world."  In  considering  this  important  passage, 
it  may  be  noted  : 

I.  This  Scripture,  like  that  relating  to  confession 
of  sin,  is  addressed  only  to  believers. 

II.  The  believer  is  first  given  the  opportunity  to 
judge  himself  before  God,  and  if  he  fails  in  voluntary 
self-judgment,  God  will  judge  him  by  chastisement. 

III.  And  the  chastisement  of  God  is  given  that 
His  child  may  not  be  condemned  with  the  world. 
In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that 
God  is  in  covenant  with  His  children  to  the  effect 
that  they  "  shall  not  be  brought  into  condemnation." 
'•  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  heareth 


148  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

My  words,  and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me,  hath 
everlasting  Ufe,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemna- 
tion ;  but  is  passed  from  death  unto  hfe  "  (John 
V.  24).  So  again,  "  There  is  therefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus  " 
(Rom.  viii.  i). 

The  whole  relation  between  the  believer  and  his  God 
is  one  of  eternal  sonship,  which  cannot  be  broken ; 
hence  all  the  judgments  of  God  upon  His  own  are 
for  correction,  while  His  judgments  of  the  unsaved 
are  unto  condemnation.  "  He  that  believeth  on 
Him  is  not  condemned  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not 
is  condemned  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed 
on  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  " 
(John  iii.  18). 

The  same  family  relationship  of  the  father  to  his 
son  is  carried  through  both  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testaments.  "  I  will  be  His  father,  and  He  shall  be 
My  son.  If  He  commit  iniquity,  I  will  chasten  Him 
with  the  rod  of  men,  and  with  the  stripes  of  the 
children  of  men  :  but  My  mercy  shall  not  depart 
away  from  Him,  as  I  took  it  from  Saul,  whom  I  put 
away  before  thee "  (2  Sam.  vii.  14,  15).  "  And 
David  said  unto  Nathan,  I  have  sinned  against  the 
Lord.  And  Nathan  said  unto  David,  The  Lord 
also  hath  put  away  thy  sin  ;    thou  shalt  not  die. 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      149 

Howbeit,  because  by  this  deed  thou  hast  given  great 
occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  to  blaspheme, 
the  child  also  that  is  bom  of  thee  shall  surely  die  " 
(2  Sam.  xii.  13,  14).  "  To  deliver  such  an  one  unto 
Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit 
may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus  "  (i  Cor. 
V.  5).  "  For  consider  Him  that  endured  such 
contradiction  of  sinners  against  Himself,  lest  ye  be 
weary  and  faint  in  your  minds.  Ye  have  not  yet 
resisted  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin.  And  ye 
have  forgotten  the  exhortation,  which  speaketh  unto 
you  as  unto  children.  My  son,  despise  not  thou  the 
chastening  of  the  Lord,  nor  faint  when  thou  art 
rebuked  of  Him  :  for  whom  the  Lord  loveth  He 
chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  He  receiv- 
eth.  If  ye  endure  chastening,  God  dealeth  with  you 
as  with  sons  ;  for  what  son  is  he  whom  the  Father 
chasteneth  not  ?  But  if  ye  be  without  chastisement, 
whereof  all  are  partakers,  then  are  ye  bastards,  and 
not  sons.  Furthermore  we  have  had  fathers  of  our 
flesh  which  corrected  us,  and  we  gave  them  rever- 
ence ;  shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto 
the  Father  of  spirits,  and  live  ?  For  they  verily  for 
a  few  days  chastened  us  after  their  own  pleasure  ; 
but  He  for  our  profit  that  we  might  be  partakers  of 
His  holiness.     Now  no  chastening  for  the  present 


150  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous  :  nevertheless 
afterwards  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruits  of  right- 
eousness unto  them  which  are  exercised  thereby. 
Wherefore  lift  up  the  hands  which  hang  down,  and 
the  feeble  knees  ;  and  make  straight  paths  for  your 
feet,  lest  that  which  is  lame  be  turned  out  of  the  way  ; 
but  let  it  rather  be  healed.  Follow  peace  with  all 
men,  and  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord  :  looking  diligently  lest  any  man  fail  of 
the  grace  of  God  ;  lest  any  root  of  bitterness  springing 
up  trouble  you,  and  thereby  many  be  defiled " 
(Heb.  xii.  3-15).  "  Every  branch  in  me  that 
beareth  not  fruit  He  taketh  it  away  ;  and  every 
branch  that  beareth  fruit,  He  purgeth  it,  that  it 
may  bring  forth  more  fruit  "  (John  xv.  2). 

From  this  extensive  body  of  Scripture  it  may  be 
seen  that  the  Christian  is  privileged  to  "  walk  in 
the  light,  as  He  is  in  the  light,"  which  does  not 
necessarily  mean  a  sinless  life  :  but  it  does  mean 
the  humble  confession  of  all  the  fruits  of  a  sinful 
nature,  and  an  attitude  of  willingness  to  meet  every 
demand  of  God  for  the  putting  away  of  sin.  If  the 
confession  of  sin  and  the  judgment  of  self  is  not 
willingly  entered  into,  there  must  be  a  chastisement 
from  God,  lest  the  believer  be  condemned  with  the 
world.     The    execution    of    this    chastisement,    it 


CLEANSING   OF    THE   PRIESTS      151 

would  seem,  is  sometimes  committed  to  Satan 
(i  Cor  V.  5  ;  I  Tim.  i.  20).  If  fruit  is  not  borne  after 
chastisement,  then  God  taketh  the  branch  awa}^ 
(John  XV.  2).  This  is  not  a  loss  of  salvation,  but  is 
an  entire  removal  from  this  life  and  service. 

There  are  two  practical  questions  which  arise  in 
connection  with  the  confession  of  sin  on  the  part  of 
the  believer.  First,  How  may  he  know  what  to 
confess  ?   and  second,  To  whom  should  he  confess  ? 

In  answer  to  the  question — How  may  he  know  what 
to  confess  ? — it  may  be  stated  that  there  are  at 
least  three  ways  by  which  a  Christian  may  come  to 
know  his  unlikeness  to  the  mind  and  character  of 
God.     These  are  : 

I.  The  written  Word  of  God,  the  teachings  of 
which  he  may  have  neglected  or  transgressed. 
"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and 
is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction, 
for  instruction  in  righteousness  :  that  the  man  of 
God  may  be  perfect,  throughly  furnished  unto  all 
good  works  "  (2  Tim.  iii.  16,  17). 

n.  The  faithful  admonition  of  the  fellow-members 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  "  Moreover  if  thy  brother 
shall  trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his  fault 
between  thee  and  him  alone  :  if  he  shall  hear  thee, 
thou  hast  gained  thy  brother.     But  if  he  will  not 


152  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

hear  thee,  then  take  with  thee  one  or  more  that 
in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  every  word 
may  be  estabhshed.  And  if  he  shall  neglect  to  hear 
them,  tell  it  to  the  church  :  but  if  he  shall  neglect 
to  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an 
heathen  man  and  a  publican  "  (Matt,  xviii.  15-17). 
"  Take  heed  to  yourselves  :  if  thy  brother  trespass 
against  thee,  rebuke  him  ;  and  if  he  repent,  forgive 
him.  And  if  he  trespass  against  thee  seven  times  in 
a  day,  and  seven  times  in  a  day  turn  again  to  thee, 
saying,  I  repent,  thou  shalt  forgive  him  "  (Luke 
xvii.  3,  4).  "  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a 
fault,  ye  which  are  spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in 
the  spirit  of  meekness ;  considering  thyself,  lest 
thou  also  be  tempted  "  (Gal,  vi.  i). 

III.  The  grieved  Spirit  who  indwells  him.  The 
grieving  of  the  Spirit  will  be  to  the  Christian  as  an 
inner  consciousness  of  wrong,  which  he  must  carefull}' 
and  prayerfully  heed.  "  And  grieve  not  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God,  whereby  ye  are  sealed  unto  the  day 
of  redemption  "  (Eph.  iv.  30). 

The  child  of  God  will  learn  to  distinguish  between 
the  ever-present  unlikeness  to  Christ  and  the  grosser 
sins  that  are  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  "  Adultery, 
fornication,  uncleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry, 
witchcraft,  hatred, variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife. 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      153 

seditions,  heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness, 
revellings,  and  such  hke  "  (Gal.  v.  19-21).  In  this 
passage  it  will  be  seen  that  the  sins  of  hatred, 
wrath,  envy,  variance,  emulations  and  strife  are 
mentioned  in  the  same  list  with  adultery,  murder 
and  drunkenness. 

If  a  Christian  really  purposes  to  get  right  with  God 
at  any  cost,  he  may  well  pray  the  prayer  recorded 
in  Psa.  cxxxix.  23,  24  :  "  Search  me,  O  God,  and 
know  my  heart ;  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts  : 
and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  nie,  and  lead 
me  in  the  way  everlasting."  There  is  assurance 
that  every  unholy  thing  will  be  revealed  to  the  one 
who  thus  prays.  "  Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  be 
perfect,  be  thus  minded  :  and  if  in  anything  3'e  be 
otherwise  minded,  God  shall  reveal  even  this  unto 
you  "  (Phil.  iii.  15). 

In  answer  to  this  prayer  for  light  upon  the  hidden 
sins  in  the  life,  there  may  be  but  one  sin  revealed  at 
a  time,  and  further  revelations  may  be  made  to 
depend  both  upon  an  honest  dealing  with  the 
revelation  already  given  and  upon  a  repetition  of 
the  same  supplication.  There  is  no  other  way  for  a 
Christian  to  deal  with  his  sin-hindered  life. 

The  voice  of  the  unseen  enemy  must  also  be 
detected.     He  is  ever  present  to  dissuade  the  believer 


154  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

from  taking  the  necessary  step  that  leads  him  back 
into  fellowship  with  God,  and  into  the  power  and 
blessing  of  service.  Satan's  method  is  to  seek  to 
minimize  the  hindering  sin,  to  justify  the  unholy  act 
or  position,  and  to  appeal  to  the  personal  pride  of 
the  Christian,  or  suggest  that  a  confession  of  sin 
would  hinder  the  believer's  influence  for  his  Lord, 

The  answer  to  the  second  question  :  "  To  whom 
should  a  Christian  confess  ?  "  is  more  simple  : 

I.  Confession  of  sin  should  always  be  to  God  ;  for 
He  is  wronged  by  the  sin  of  a  Christian  more  than 
any  mortal.  The  Scripture  examples  of  confession 
are  clear  on  this  point.  "  Against  thee,  thee  only, 
have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight  " 
(Psa.  li.  4).  "I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father, 
and  will  say  unto  Him,  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  before  Thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy 
to  be  called  Thy  son  :  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired 
servants  "  (Luke  xv.  18,  19). 

n.  Confession  should  be  made  to  the  person  or 
persons  who  have  been  in  any  way  wronged  by 
the  sin.  Here,  it  may  be  added,  confession  does 
not  in  any  way  involve  the  wrong  attitude  of  others, 
nor  does  it  demand  that  the  responsibility  for  sin 
shall  be  assumed  by  a  person  who  is  in  no  way  at 
fault.     If   there   has   been   an   enmity   between  a 


CLEANSING   OF    THE   PRIESTS      155 

Christian  and  some  other  person,  the  Christian  is 
asked  to  consider  and  confess  only  his  own  wrong 
state  of  heart  or  sinful  acts.  This  may  not  solve 
the  misunderstanding  between  the  two  parties,  but 
it  will  open  the  way  for  the  cleansing  of  the  Christian 
who  confesses  his  sins. 

Again,  confession  of  sin  should  always  be  limited 
to  those  who  have  been  wronged,  whether  the  sin 
has  been  committed  against  the  community,  the 
church  or  an  individual. 

III.  Confession  should  be  made  to  any  who  have 
known  of  the  sin  ;  for  they,  in  a  measure,  have  also 
been  wronged.  "  And  make  straight  paths  for  your 
feet,  lest  that  which  is  lame  be  turned  out  of  the  way  ; 
but  let  it  rather  be  healed.  Follow  peace  with  all 
men,  and  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see 
the  Lord  :  looking  diligently  lest  any  man  fail  of 
the  grace  of  God  ;  lest  any  root  of  bitterness  spring- 
ing up  trouble  you,  and  thereby  many  be  defiled  ' 
(Heb.  xii.  13-15).  "  Let  us  not  therefore  judge  one 
another  any  more  :  but  judge  this  rather,  that  no 
man  put  a  stumbling-block  or  an  occasion  to  fall  in 
his  brother's  way  "  (Rom.  xiv.  13  ;  see  also  Luke 
xvii.  I,  2  ;    I  Cor.  viii.  7-13). 

The  fifty-first  Psalm  is  the  record  of  David's 
repentance  and  return  to  fellowship  with  God  after 


T56  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

his  great  sin,  and  is  an  exact  statement  of  the  neces- 
sary steps  to  be  taken  by  a  Christian  in  returning 
to  his  place  of  joy  and  power  in  service.  The  Psahn 
opens  with  a  complete  confession  of  sin  ;  claims  the 
cleansing  that  is  promised ;  and  ends  with  the 
restoration  to  joy,  service,  and  whole  fellowship 
with  God. 

If  there  is  no  fruit  borne  to  the  glory  of  God,  no 
fellowship  with  God,  and  no  joy  in  the  life  of  a 
believer,  it  is  evidence  that  there  is  need  of  adjust- 
ment in  that  life  to  the  mind  and  will  of  God.  Such 
adjustments  are  the  common  experience  of  those 
who  know  what  it  is  to  walk  with  God  ;  for  there 
is  no  other  way  to  keep  that  priceless  fellowship  and 
blessing.  The  secret  of  abiding  in  such  a  walk  with 
God  is  instant  confession  of  every  known  sin, 
rather  than  a  delay  in,  or  an  entire  neglect  of  the 
performance  of  that  duty. 

Let  it  be  restated  that  the  believer  may  not 
realize  a  state  of  sinless  perfection  ;  but  he  can  and 
must  maintain  an  attitude  of  willing  and  instant 
confession  of  every  known  wrong,  if  he  would  walk 
in  fellowship  with  his  Lord  and  minister  in  the 
priestly  office. 

When  the  heart  is  searched  before  God,  and  all 
sin  is  put  away,  the  believer  will  "  walk  in  the  light 


CLEANSING    OF    THE    PRIESTS      157 

as  He  is  in  the  light "  ;  for  that  is  the  normal,  if  not 
the  usual,  Christian  experience.  In  this  relationship 
there  wall  be  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  with  His 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  a  running  over  with  peace  and  joy, 
and  unhindered  outflow  of  the  love  of  God  through 
the  life. 

Of  this  outflow  of  love  it  may  be  stated  that,  as 
the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the 
Spirit  which  is  given  unto  us,  the  normal  experience 
of  every  believer  should  be  a  Divine  sense  of  the 
lost  condition  of  unsaved  people,  which  will  prompt 
any  necessary  sacrifice  or  effort  to  win  them.  The 
particular  person  or  persons  for  whom  a  Christian 
may  be  burdened,  and  the  extent  of  that  burden, 
will  be  indicated  and  governed  by  the  sovereign 
movings  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  while  a  sense  of  the 
burden,  made  possible  through  a  cleansing  of  the 
life,  is  the  one  responsibility  of  the  believer. 

Where  the  believer-priest  is  cleansed  and  is  in 
communion  with  God,  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in 
his  heart  will  create  in  him  a  Divine  longing  for  the 
salvation  of  the  lost  and  this  will  be  brought  about 
by  the  Spirit  "  which  is  given  unto  him."  He  will 
then,  from  time  to  time,  be  driven  to  intercession 
and  prayer  through  his  suffering  with  Christ  for 
the   lost.     Like    Paul   he   will   say :     "  My   heart's 


158  TRUE    EVANGELISM 

desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might 
be  saved,"  and  this  prayer  will  be  an  intercession  by 
the  Spirit  ;  "  For  we  know  not  what  to  pray  for  as 
we  ought  :  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession 
for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered." 
And  since  that  prayer  is  indicted  by  the  Spirit,  Who 
knows  the  mind  of  God,  that  prayer  will  be  answered 
by  the  going  forth  of  the  Spirit  in  power,  wielding 
His  mighty  sword  to  convict  of  sin,  of  righteousness, 
and  of  judgment.  Then  where  this  Divinely  wrought 
vision  is  received  and  acted  upon  by  a  depositing  of 
all  hope  and  trust  in  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  there  will  be,  by  the  same 
Spirit,  a  marvellous  transformation  of  the  whole 
estate  from  the  power  and  darkness  of  Satan  into 
the  light,  liberty  and  blessing  of  the  sons  of  God. 

Thus  when  the  believer-priest  is  cleansed  and  in 
a  normal  relation  to  God,  the  Spirit  is  free  to  take 
every  necessary  step  in  the  "  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,"  and  the  behever  will  be  led  in  perfect  co- 
operation with  Christ  in  His  great  unfinished  work 
of  seeking  the  lost.  The  work  is  all  accompHshed 
by  the  Spirit ;  for  it  is  the  Spirit  Who  inspires  the 
prayer  which  is  the  only  relief  for  the  one  who  is 
suffering  with  Christ  through  the  Divinely  given 
burden  for  the  lost ;   it  is  the  Spirit  Who  convinces 


CLEANSING   OF   THE    PRIESTS       159 

of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment  in  answer 
to  prayer  which  He  inspires  ;  and  it  is  the  Spirit 
Who  meets  the  wiUing  soul  with  the  power  of  God 
in  salvation. 

True  evangelism  begins,  then,  with  a  cleansed 
priest,  and  while  the  human  instrument  may  co- 
operate in  much  of  the  subsequent  work  in  seeking 
the  lost,  "  It  is  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by 
My  Spirit  saith  the  Lord." 


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